


The Wretched and Divine

by stargazingatmidnight



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, BAMF!Miles, BAMF!Sam, Canonical Character Death, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Holoform(s), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Soul Bond, Sparklings, bonds!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-24
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2017-12-21 06:40:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 60
Words: 248,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/897045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stargazingatmidnight/pseuds/stargazingatmidnight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His life had been so easy. Sector Seven was his home, the NBE's were his enemy. Sector Seven had looked after him and trainned him to kill the NBE's which had murdered his parents. A good NBE was a dead NBE. Simple.<br/>Then he had been shown Sector Seven's deepest secrect, and Sam's life had been flipped upside down.<br/>Three years, two months and thirteen days he had been lost, caught in an whirlpool of guilt and anger.<br/>Three years, two months and thirteen days since the moment he ran from his entire life, he looked up into the optics of Optimus Prime , and he was found.</p><p>Now he has to lead a rebellion, try and keep his people from killing their allies, try not to get killed by the ones he betrayed and help the Autobots win the War. All while trying to keep his surrogate daughter from giving his mate a spark-attack. Pfft, some fearless Prime HE was!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Wretched and Divine: The Prophesy Unknown

**Author's Note:**

> Okay guys, here's the first chapter! I REALLY REALLY HOPE YOU READ ON!
> 
> So, I have this posted up on Fanficiton, but I decided to put it up here as well, as I am starting to prefer this site!
> 
> Anything, and I stress this, anything in this entire fic that sounds familiar, I DO NOT OWN. I don't own any of the script that is used in the movie, I own none of the recognisable characters and I DO. NOT. OWN. TRANSFORMERS!
> 
> Phew, okay, disclaimer done.

They thought they had planned every possible outcome. Every decision that could have been made was accounted for; every 'random act' was planned thousands of millennia beforehand, and every time the outcome was the same.

Until one being panicked and another moved too soon.

With their actions, everything they had built crumbled around them, and built itself back up stronger.

Everything changed, and yet, nothing changed.

Their Champion was still their Champion. A little harsher, a littler wearier, a little more wary of the world, but still _theirs_.

And they would protect him, for he would save them.

 

* * *

**_The day will come where our world will die,_ **

**_Our children scattered across the sky._ **

**_A world unknown will call them near,_ **

**_An untold power hidden here._ **

****

**_A champion who will dance with death,_ **

**_Only saved by bonded's breath._ **

**_At war for peace, our children cry,_ **

**_There is more than first meets the eye._ **

****

**_Our home returned, our children free,_ **

**_A champion's life was the fee._ **

**_The battle is over; the war has just begun,_ **

**_The way it shall remain 'til the day when all are one._ **

 

* * *

This is the story of a group of humans who helped saved the world, befriended and even fell in love with a group of 'visitors from heaven'.

This is a story about Earth and Cybertron.

This is a story about Autobots and Decepticons.

This is a story about Family and Enemies.

This is a story about Love and Hate.

This is a story about Life and death.

This is the story of the birth, life and death of Samuel James Witwicky, and his family from two completely different, yet exactly the same worlds.


	2. Divergent Arc: A Star is Born

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, in this chapter there are several mentions of 'bonds'. These are very important both now and throughout the story, as is the colour of each bond. Also, there is an OC, but they are NOT a Mary Sue, nor are they timeline-altering. Just a background character.

The first thing to ruin their so carefully laid out plan was the very thing that made it all possible. It almost destroyed their plan, before their Champion was even born.

* * *

**February 17th, 1990**

_Tranquillity Hospital A &E_

"Twenty-nine year old female, Caucasian, eight months pregnant. Called in with heavy bleeding and severe abdominal pains. History of high blood pressure-"

The EMT was cut off by Judy Witwicky's scream as she clutched her stomach, twisting on the speeding gurney that was racing down the halls of the hospital and into the Emergency room. Her husband ran alongside with her, smoothing her forehead and grasping her hand tightly, trying in vain to protect their baby from itself. The Emergency Room doors flew open and Ron Witwicky was held back by the nearest attendant as the doctors desperately tried to save his wife and baby.

* * *

Pain radiated from her stomach as Judy Witwicky continued to scream. With every second that ticked by, she could _feel_ her baby slip away. She willed her baby to live, to stay with her and to _fight_.

 _'Just a little longer baby, please hold on baby_ ,'

The blinding white light burned her eyes as the doctors shouted over her head about things that terrified her.

"-Placenta detached-"

"-Morphine, _NOW!-"_

"We're going to put you under ma'm-"

"-Count backwards from three-"

The mask that covered her face twisted everything around her. The voices slid in and out of pitch, the colour faded and sharpened, then blended together once more. Her failing limbs grew weak and lifeless, and just before she slipped under the mind-numbing blackness, her last thought pleaded,

_'Please, someone, save my baby...'_

* * *

An abrupt alarm awakened them from their sleep. Eyes wide, fear clogged their throats as the web of bonds that had reached outward from their champion snapped, one by one.

* * *

_Hoover Dam, Nevada_

"SIMMONS! YOU'RE GONNA WANNA SEE THIS!"

Seymour Simmons's head jerked up from the desk it had been lying against. Rubbing his eyes blearily, he cursed himself for staying up all night going over the mind-mystifying amount of NBE Energy spiking dotted across the globe with no coherent pattern. Making his way out of his office and down into the main hanger that stored 'The Cube', he muttered angrily to himself, ignoring the worried and downright terrified looks the Newbies were giving him.

"Damn New Yorker better have a Goddamn good reason to-HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!"

Joshua Riley, a burly 20-something from New York stood by his side, arms folded and never taking his eyes off The Cube.

"Started about two minutes ago, and it just keeps getting faster and stronger."

Simmons nodded numbly, awestruck at the power 'The Cube' was displaying.

Bolts of what looked like bright blue lightening spun out from it, bouncing harmlessly off the walls, almost looking like it was careful not to touch anything organic or metallic. Ripples of blue raced up and down The Cube, while several of the so-called 'NBE-glyphs' lit up with the same eerie blue light.

"What the hell is going on?" Simmons breathed, darting over to one of the computers for a better look.

* * *

Unknown to the humans, the Allspark was panicking. It could feel its Champion slipping away before he even got a chance to live. Without it, its home would be lost forever, and its children would fight eachother to extinction. Its champion must _live!_

But, **_how?_**

A plan began to form. The champion would be born lost, but with a teeny jolt of the Allspark's power, it would shock it back from The Well of All Sparks. The child would be safe and destiny would run its course.  
The Allspark summoned up its energy and with a final sharp blast, sent it down the very, _very_ weak bond it had with its champion.

* * *

They reached out, desperately trying to hold on to the unravelling bonds, when they were froze by a flash of dark light as every bond vanished.

They howled in grief and agony for the loss of their champion and their children, shaking as their beautiful plan crumpled around them.

* * *

Like a shockwave from an atomic bomb, the ghostly blue light shot outwards, throwing several Sector 7 agents across the room and momentarily blinding the rest.

Bringing his arm down from shielding his eyes, Simmons gazed around the room as he took in the obvious structural damage and locked his gaze with Joshua, who's ginger hair had turned ash with dust.

They turned together to look at the now-peaceful Cube and then turned back to ask each other the same question.

" ** _WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"_**

* * *

_Emergency room 4._

The silence stretched and danced and weaved around the doctors as they waited, hope against hope, for the child cradled in Doctor Mathew's arms to make a sound.

The silence continued to swell.

The surgeon sighed as the team bowed their heads in respect for a moment. Then the specialist swallowed and called,

"14:02, Witwicky baby was delivered dead on-"

Doctor Hoover was cut of by a harsh, confused and well received cry from the baby in Mathew's arms.

* * *

As soon as the light faded, a brilliant golden flash surrounded them and the network of bonds surrounding their Champion surged back to life, with a few notable differences.

Several of the grey bonds simply vanished, while others turned to a soft green, a few even turning blue.

A few of the green bonds faded to orange or also vanished, while some of the blue bonds strengthened.

They breathed a sigh of relief and calmed their panicked thoughts, revelling in the relief that their Champion was safe.

* * *

The Allspark smiled, its champion safe.

It settled down, ready to sleep for seventeen years, not yet knowing that it had set off a chain reaction that would change its and its childrens' future in awe-striking ways.

* * *

Judy Witwicky was propped up by several pillows in a crisp hospital bed, her husbands' arm around her, one hand clasped around her elbow and the other's pinkie finger caught in the iron grip of their baby's hand. She smiled and cooed down at her baby, pressing a kiss against its forehead with a reverence one only has with newborns. Tilting her head to look at Ron, her own adoration was mirrored back in his eyes as he stared down at the child they had thought they lost.

The still peace was broken when a brown-haired six year old blur raced through the door and collided with her father's middle, baby-blue fantasy dress swirling around her ankles .

"Daddy, grandma says I have a baby brother or sister now but I thought it wasn't meant to come for a whole month yet is it true and is it a boy or a girl can we get a boy because I want to be the only girl!"

It all came out in a rush of words and squealed with the speed and pitch only a little girl could produce. She bounced on her toes excitedly, eager to see the little person her Momma and Daddy had told her about.

Ron laughed at his daughter, ruffling her curls as he gently removed his arm and finger from his wife and son.

"Sophie! Calm down sweetheart! And yes, you now have a baby brother."

Ron lifted his daughter up so she could see down into her mothers' arms.

The baby was curled up, wrapped in a soft blue blanket with only its head and hands poking out. His fingers were tiny, one hand scrunched up in a tiny fist, while the other gripped the blanket tightly. His face was red, as if he was angry with the world, though his tiny slack mouth indicated he was fast asleep, while the few sparse hair he had on his head showed he had gained his mothers' copper locks.

"Why's he so small?" Sophie asked, one hand reaching out to stroke her brother's.

"Well sweetie, your brother was born a whole month early, so he's very small right now, so you have to be a big girl and watch out for him, okay?" Judy answered her, proud to see her daughter abruptly straighten up and the glow of fierce older-sibling protectiveness shine in her eyes as she gave a very enthusiastic head nod.

"Watcha gonna call him?" Sophie then asked, chocolate eyes curious.

"Yes Judy, what are you going to call him?" Patricia Banchek, Judy's mother, a youthful looking woman in her early fifties enquired. As usual, her steel grey hair was neatly styled and she was dressed in a sharp business suit, though the devotion in her eyes as she looked at her family softened the sharp edges.

Gazing back down at her son, Judy smiled as she answered answered,

"His middle name is going to be James-"

Here, she broke off to meet her mothers' eyes, her own eyes dampening when her mother raised a hand to her mouth as her eyes shone.

"-after dad."

Patrica took a steadying breath and nodded, blinking back tears. "He would be honored," She cleared her throat to try and regain control over her emotions, "And his first name?"

Judy and Ron shared a look before he continued, pride in his voice as he formally introduced his son to his mother-in-law.

"Samuel."

"Samuel. Name of God." She rolled the name around her mouth. "The Prophet." Then, she smiled warmly. "A strong name. Samuel Witwicky" Patricia murmured, eyes never leaving her newest grandchild.

"Yes," Judy smiled, pressing another kiss to his head. "Samuel James Witwicky"

At the sound of his name, the baby stirred and his eyes fluttered.

"Oh, he's gonna wake up!" Sophie giggled, clapping her hands.

At her words, the small family peered down at its newest addition, wanting to memorise their youngest's first view of the world.

After a few more seconds of squirming, Samuel James Witwicky opened up a pair of intelligent, impossible, shocking blue eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Grey bond = Passed them in the street. These break easily and have no lasting effect on the holder.
> 
> Orange= Acquaintance. Something like a work college, people you can speak with, but drift both in and out of your life.
> 
> Red= Enemy. Pretty self explanatory!
> 
> Green= Friend. A close friend, closer than an acquaintance but not as close as a family member. These bonds are harder to break, but it can still be done and will leave consequences.
> 
> Blue= Family. Very, very strong bonds. Even harder to break, can be broken but only by life altering circumstances.
> 
> Silver= Destined. The Male/female that you are destined to spend your life with. These bonds can very rarely be broken, if one half dies or breaks the bond, the bond fractures and 2/5 times the other half dies.
> 
> Gold= Soul. The strongest of bonds. Impossible to break, the bonds are created at birth when a soul is split in two and enclosed in two different forms, only to find each other once more. Nothing can destroy this bond. It can however, be hidden from sight, but eventually will be revealed. Both like and unlike with the Destined bond, when one half dies, the bond fractures. However, unlike with the Destined bond, sooner rather than later, the other half WILL pass on to rest with their other half.


	3. Divergent Arc: Torn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five minutes earlier, and they could have avoided this. But they didn't, and now their world has crumpled into ash.

The second time their plan was shattered, they gave up, fully believing that there was no way their champion would return to them...

* * *

**July 18th, 1996**

Sophie leaned against the door frame, apple-green rucksack slung over her shoulder, rolling her eyes at her little brother. The six year old was lying on his stomach in the middle of the room, forehead creased in concentration and tongue poking out of the side of his mouth as he carefully coloured in his drawing. The twelve year old flicked her eyes around his room, lingering on the familiar green paint and the dark blue ceiling, the silver dots scattered across it forming the constellations that were mirrored on the ceiling in her own room. She quietly tiptoed in, kneeling down in front of him and grinned. Sam, so lost in his own world, didn't even notice until-

"BOO!"  
"AHH!"

The marker went flying as Sam glared at his sister, who was on her back giggling at the adorable fury in her little brother's eyes. He crossed his arms and pouted at her, pushing her hands away with a huff when she messed up his already messy copper hair, causing it to stick up in gravity-defying spikes.

"Aw, come on squirt, crack a smile!"

"I'm not a squirt!" Sam went up in his tiptoes, sticking his tongue out at her. "I'm taller than Miles!"

Sophie laughed as she walked over to the bed where Sam's suitcase lay, the toys and books he was taking with them to their uncle's house, where they would be staying for the rest of the summer, neatly packed in. She dumped her rucksack on the ground and poked through the suitcase, rolling her eyes as she lifted one of the thin document files out of it.

"Some kid's like to play with toy soldiers," she muttered under her breath, "my little brother marks out the position of stars and meteorites."

"It wasn't a meteorite!" Sam's muffled protest drifted out from the inside of his closet, "There was none scheduled to appear anywhere near here yet!"

"...Sammy, did you hack into NASA's database again?"

Sam's silence was her answer. " _Sam!_ Mom and dad _told you_ not to do that anymore!"

"I had to do it!" The six year old protested as he emerged, the shiny skateboard he had gotten for his birthday under his arm, "Jason bet I couldn't do it! There was a lot at stake!"

Sophie shook her head, cursing her older 'cousin' in her head. "Like what?! And why are you bringing that with you? Mom said you couldn't learn until after summer!"

"That's why I had to do it! Jason promised he would convince momma to teach me if I could!"

Shaking her head, she slipped the file back into the suitcase and took the board from Sam, moving a few things to slot it in. As she closed it, she spotted something on the bed that made her grin. She picked the blue teddy bear off the pillow by it's ear, her grin softening to a smile as she remembered buying it with her grandma's money and tucking it at the bottom of her new baby brother's cot.

Sam hadn't been parted from it since.

"And I suppose poor Primus will just have to stay at home..."

"NO!" Sam grabbed it, holding the teddy close, then blushed when his sister snickered. "I mean, whatever. I don't care, I don't need a teddy to sleep with..."

Sophie bit the inside of her cheek, catching on that Sam wanted to be a 'big boy' in front of their older cousins Jason and Esme, who he idolized, and Ash would tease him silly...

She gently took it from him and carefully tucked him into her rucksack, ruffling Sam's hair when his eyes lit up and he hugged her tightly before running off at their mother's call.

* * *

"Sammy! We're leaving in five minutes!" Judy called, knowing her youngest was probably taking apart the toaster again, or drawing over the sketchbook Esme had got him for his birthday.

He little boy was fascinated by all things mechanical, often choosing to take apart the toaster or the TV remote rather than play with the toys he was presented with. He also loved to read and would absorb any material left sitting around the house, from car manuals to storybooks to recipe leaflets.

Sam was a very...smart child. Almost frighteningly so. By the age of three months, he spoke his first word, and by eight, he was talking like a young adult and reading the works of Shakespeare at night to lull himself to sleep.

He took his first steps at eight months and was rearing around the house like a speed demon by the end of the ninth.

His shocking blue eyes hadn't faded, leaving Judy to suffer through many 'milkman' jokes.

But even through all that, he was still her baby boy and acted his age several times, such as throwing tantrums over the thought of binning the old toaster rather than burying it in the backyard and being inseparable from his soft blue teddy dubbed 'Primus'.

"SAMMY!" she hollered again.

"Yes momma?"

Spinning around with her hand on her chest, she mock scowled at her son who merely smiled back, eyes twinkling.

"Go out to the car, sweetie. Miles and Mikaela are waiting to say goodbye." She sighed, shaking her head in fondness as Sam nodded eagerly and raced off to the car.

* * *

Judy grinned at her daughter in the rear-view mirror, the two trying to hold in giggles at the goodbye taking place outside the car.

The three regarded each other formally, forming a small triangle. Sam saluted the two of them and the the two saluted back, Mikaela's stance firm and Miles's face straight.

"You gotta keep watching for them, okay guys?" The two kids nodded at Sam's order, Mikaela's pigtails bouncing as she did so. Miles's immediately shushed them when Ron wandered out with a box under his arm, smiling at the trio.

"You kids staying out of trouble?"

"Yes, dad!" "Yes Mister Witwicky!" The three chimed back, eyes bright and faces innocent.

Ron shook his head at them, laughing slightly. "Come on kids, what are you hiding?"

The three started back, and Mikaela was the first to break as Ron put the box in the trunk. "We're looking for aliens!"

"Kaela!" The two boys scolded, unaware of how Ron had gone still, "You weren't supposed to tell!"

"Opps..."

"Aliens, huh?"

The game was up, so Sam nodded. "That meteorite wasn't a meteorite, dad! There wasn't meant to be any in for at least a whole month and Jason and Uncle Tom said-"

"Sometimes NASA get's things wrong, son."

"Yeah, but Uncle Tom said that he thinks aliens are real and they're already here, hiding in plain sight! And that we need to find them and help keep people safe-"

"-Your Uncle Tom talked to you about this a lot?"

"...Yeah?"

Ron looked over his son, and Sam frowned a little. His dad looked really sad for a minute...and scared.

He had never seen his daddy scared before.

Ron cleared his throat and blinked quickly. "There's no such thing as aliens, Sammy. They're just stories your Uncle likes to tell."

"But Jason-"

"Jason is just teasing you, son." He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face and ruffled Sam's hair, ignoring Sam's usual protest of "Daaaad!"

"Get in the car, kiddo, we gotta go."

"Fine!" Sam sighed. He hugged his friends quickly and got in, waving out the window. Covertly, Sophie slipped both Primus and an apple out of her bag and passed them to Sam, who grinned at her and snuggled into Primus, taking a bit of the apple.

* * *

Firestorm sped down the freeway, weaving in and out of the lanes of traffic, pissed, tired and very bored.

 _Stupid tiny organics_ , he mentally snarled as another car slowed down to get another look at his alt, _Can't they mind their own slagging business?_ The red-hot Chevrolet Camaro growled.

The Decepticon once again scanned his surroundings in vain, looking for even a simple _hint_ of his leader.

Megatron had sent a message to his followers about five thousand years ago, stating that he had found the Allspark's location along with a sting of co-ordinates. Firestorm himself was the closest to Earth and was the first to arrive, only to find no sign of the Allspark or Megatron. So, he was stuck on this tiny organic planet with nothing to do, and his temper was short, all it would take was one tiny-

Firestorm slammed on the breaks with a teeth grinding squeal as the Vauxhall people carrier to his left was forced to break and swerve directly into his path to avoid being cut-off by a cocky teen driving a neon-green Nissan.

Just like that, with the squeal of breaks, Firestorm's tempered snapped.

* * *

They were once again woken by shrieking alarms as the bonds surrounding their Champion began to shiver and blur, while they could only look at each other in horror, helpless to do anything.

* * *

"JESUS!" Ron yelped, breaking and swerving to avoid the Nissan in front of him, bracing against the seat to avoid crashing into the window. Shifting his head to right, he flicked his eyes over his wife, checking for any injuries. When she was deemed safe, he snapped his head behind, relived to see no injuries on either of them. Sophie had gripped Sam tightly when the car had swerved and Sam had buried into her, clutching Primus tight enough to turn his fingers white.

Judy flicked a piece of her copper hair out of her mouth and brought her hand down from where it was braced.

"Well, that was-"

She was cut off by Sam's soft, strangled gasp as he gazed into the twisted crimson optics and the sound of what sounded like gears and metal shifting and clanking together crept up their spines. Slowly, feeling like they had stumbled into a horror movie, the small family turned their right to see a large metal hand reach under their car and flick it upwards like a child would with a ball, sending it spinning through the air in a whirl of colour and screams.

* * *

"NO!" She screamed, once again reaching for the bonds.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

Strong arms locked around her and she buried her head into her brother's shoulder. He comforted her as best he could, unable to tear his eyes from the bonds being torn from their champion, mourning the loss of their children with her.

* * *

The Allspark wept. There was no way it could help its Champion or its Champion's organic family. This time, its Champion was on its own.

* * *

The car landed on its hood, glass shattering and falling to the ground in deadly grace. Quick as lightning, the hidden piece of the Allspark that laid buried deep in the Champion's cells bust into life, the innocent six year old being replaced by a presence much more older and educated. The Champion's hand flashed to his buckle and undid his seatbelt, twisting so he landed feet first on the ceiling of their car. He flashed around the car, doing the same for the organic femme creator, mech creator and femme sister, before dragging one by one, out through the shattered windows and onto the dew soaked grass.

* * *

Judy raised her head, her sight fuzzy and thoughts slow. She brought her hand up to her head, only for it to come away with her fingertips stained crimson.

 _B_ _lood_... _head injury_... _must_ _have concussion_... _Ron_...

Her head lolled to the side. Ron was lying on his back, eyes blank, chest still.

_So...still..._

Tearing her eyes away from her other half; she looked to her other side. Sophie faced her, her brown hair mattered with blood and dirt, clothes bloody and torn, eyes wide and terrified. With shaking fingers, Judy brought them to her lips and touched them briefly.

_Shhh...Don't cry love._

A small hand touched her cheek. Slowly moving her head back, she was trapped by a pair of electrifying blue eyes. The body kneeling over her was that of her so's, but the eyes that held her's told her that this wasn't him. They were too intelligent, too old, too... _alien_. They glowed with an eerie blue light and unknown silver symbols danced through them.

_Be still..._

The voice that whispered in her head was _It's_. But _It_ wasn't scary. The voice was old, calm, comforting.

 _My son?_ She asked, unable to open her mouth, finding it hard to breath

_He is safe._

_My daughter?_

_Unharmed, the blood is yours._

Her eyes finally tore away from _It's_ and flicked down to her chest. Blood, so much blood stained her shirt. Too much. She didn't need the dark spots clouding her vision to tell her that she wasn't going to make it.

_Keep..them...safe..._

_Of course._

_Let them know I love them._

_My word is my will. On the energon of my ancestors, I promise that they will know._

_Thank you..._

With that, Judy Witwicky's eyes slid close and she took her last breath, missing how the glow faded from Sam's eyes, and not hearing her baby boy cry for her and her husband to _Please wake up!_

* * *

There was a final flash of light. Still sobbing, she turned to look at the bonds surrounding their Champion.

The shining blue bonds were gone, as if they had never been there.

The green flared and turned a faint orange, close friends becoming nothing more than people whose talents could be used.

The grey seemed to explode outward, more than all the other bonds which had once been there combined, so many lived touched and none cared about.

The red also expanded, the Champion's once so loved friends and family becoming his most hated enemies.

Their hope.

Their children's future.

Their Champion.

_Gone._

* * *

That day would forever be remembered as the day the Witwicky family was destroyed. The official story claimed that their car had been crashed into by a drunk driver, sending them flying through the air and down onto the grassy fields lining the freeway. The father had been declared dead on impact, the mother later dying from her injuries. With an adrenalin rush, the youngest, a six year old boy who had escaped with only minor injuries, had dragged his mother, father and sister, who also only suffered minor injuries, out of the car and called 911.

The daughter would be placed into the care system and later placed with a loving family who encouraged her to keep in touch with her brother, though that soon faded when he stopped returning phone calls and letters.

The boy was placed with his only surviving family who could take him in. His mother's brother Tom and his wife Sahara, who sadly only had room for one child. They moved into the family home, then later further away, and no more was heard from Samuel James Witwicky until he was 14 years old.


	4. Divergent Arc: Hope

**March 3rd 1997**

"Samuel!"

Sam ignored his aunt's piercing voice, so focused on his task before him. Twisting the spanner, he leaned backwards, brushing his copper bangs from his sweaty face and rubbing his oily hands on his pants. His dark blue sweats had several spots of oil on them and his once clean vest top was now more grey than white. With a small satisfied smile, he shut the hood of the old rusty Dodge Spirit _,_ absentmindedly wiping a spot of dirt off the otherwise clean blue hood.

"SAMUEL!"

Still caught up in his own world, he grabbed his trusty, slightly battered skateboard, placing it flat on the ground. Laying back on it, he hooked his fingers under the edge of the front bumper and slid himself under, quickly going to work on the undercarriage, grimacing at the once hidden damage. Reaching out, he went to grab a-

" _ **SAMUEL JAMES WITWICKY!**_ "

Groaning, he let his head collide with the skateboard once more, an annoyed huff slipping past his lips. The seven year old  pushed himself out, quickly dusting off his hands and slipping out of the garage and into the house.

" _ **SAM**_ -"

"Yes Sahara?"

Spinning round, Sahara lush black hair whipped around her as her dark eyes met Sam's.

Sam's eyes, as usual, were like ice. Showing no outward emotion and cold enough to make you get a shiver down your spine if you looked for too long. His face also set in its usual blank mask, lips pressed in a thin line, messy copper hair falling into his eyes, shielding the left one from view. The heavy purple shadows under his eyes told her that he had been having nightmares again. To a family member, or even a close friend, this would be a cause for concern.

Too bad for Sam, Sahara really couldn't care less.

Two days after the accident that took his parents lives, Sahara and Sam's Uncle Tom moved into the family home and Sam stayed with them. The other one, Sophie, went to a family somewhere in Chicago, as two tramtised children would be too much for the young couple to handle.

In fact, Sahara hadn't even wanted Sam. She was 24 years old and had been living in the heart of Vegas. Her husband's job was high paying; she had expensive clothing; fashionable friends; penthouse apartment; only for it all to be torn away by one phone call. Suddenly, she was forced to play 'mommy' to a traumatized kid who saw his parents die in front of his eyes and his older sister forced away from him. She got stuck in the suburbs, forced to by a 'kid-friendly' car, lost touch with all her friends, _and_   her husband was in Nevada for five days of the week. She resented it. She didn't want kids, now she was forced to look after one most of the damn day.

Thus, she let her resentment out on her only target. The kid that had messed everything up for her in the first place.

She never raised her hand to him, oh no, she wouldn't sink _that_ far. She simply ignored him. He got up, made himself breakfast and walked to school, while she slept in until noon. He walked home from school, did his homework and got himself dinner, while she went into the main town to eat out. He worked on the car his dad had been fixing before the accident, went to the skate park, got himself supper and went to bed. The only time she had contact with him was at the start and end of the week when Tom was arriving or leaving.

Her resenment wasn't the only reason she couldn't bare to be in the same room as him for too long. The kid was always so _serious_. From the day she arrived, she could count the number of times he had smiled on one hand, and couldn't ever remember hearing him laugh. And he was always so tense, as if waiting for an attack and his eyes were never still, always darting around, analysing everything. He was unnerving and strange and _weird_.

"Sahara?" His voice was flat, startling her out of her string of memories.

Clearing her throat, she pinned him with a steely glare which, as usual, did nothing.

"Your uncle will be home in five minutes." She replied, just as emotionless. Sam merely nodded before turning in his heel and making his way up the stairs and into his room, before returning to silently set the table.

The woman released an annoyed breath, trying to will the flush of red out of her coffe-coloured skin. She spun on her heel and started making dinner quickly, releasing her annoyance by roughly diceing vegetables violently. Her annoyance leached out, just as she heard the front door slam.

"Honey, I'm home!" Tom Banchek called out, a cheeky grin on his face. Greeting his wife with a kiss on the cheek, he made his way into the kitchen, ruffling his nephew's hair as he passed.

"How was your week, son?"

Sam shrugged. "Same as usual."

"Well, I've got a surprise for you!"

Tilting his head, the child cocked an eyebrow, a tiny glitter or intrest growing in his eyes.

"You're coming to work with me on Monday"

Sahara's mouth dropped open, staring at Tom in shock. Confusion flashed in Sam's eyes.

"Why?"

At that simple question, Tom dropped his smile and leaned across the table, his eyes serious.

"Sammy-"

"Don't call me that."

Sam's voice was ice cold, chilling Tom to the core. The pain in his eyes made it clear what his was thinking of, or rather, who he was thinking of.

Bowing his head in the memory of his dead sister, Tom nodded.

"Okay, sorry son. Anyway, do you know what I do?"

"Yes, you're the Head of Sector 7. You hunt down N.B.Es and experiment on them, reverse-engineering their technology for our own. You currently have one in cyrostasis and what seems to be a relic in another hanger. You are currently looking for the one dubbed NBE 2, the one know to change into bright red Chevrolet Camaro Z28. You have a personal interest in this case, because this is the one that murdered my parents."

Sam stated this in a calm, clear voice, as if he had rehearsed it more than once.

Silence spread across the kitchen as the occupants could only stare at the bored boy.

"How the hell did you know that?" Tom breathed, his eyes wide, face drained.

"I hacked you system a few months ago." calm the bored reply.

" **WHY?** "

Tom's voice had changed to a high-pitched squeal at this, his hand fluttering nervously at the thought of _a six year old_ , _his_ six year old _nephew_ , hacking their high-tech security system that had more firewalls than the defense network.

"I finished my homework." came the droll reply.

"Finished your-" Tom rested his head in his hands, trying _not_ to hyperventilate. "He finished his homework so he decided to hack Sector 7..." he trailed off incredulously, trying to cease his rambling.

Taking a steadying breath, he lifted his eyes from the interesting burn on the table.

"So, you know then that you great-great-grandfather made one of the biggest discoveries in the history of mankind?"

A nod was all he got in return.

"Okay, so, Sam, ever since the beginning, a Witwicky or a friend of the Witwicky family has always been in charge of Sector 7. You Great-great-grandfather was in charge to begin with, then a Walter Simmons, a friend of the family and, now me. Someday I'll retire and it will be your turn to take charge."

"And if I don't want to?"

The reply was almost...challenging. The most emotion Tom had ever heard in his nephew's voice since the murder. Though his face was clear of any emotion, Tom smiled inwardly. Maybe his nephew was finally healing. He knew leaving him with his wife wasn't the best idea, but he couldn't take him with him until now and, surely, his wife wouldn't do anything to _hurt_ him.

"You have no choice. Sector 7 would hunt you down and plague you for the rest of your life. They would be willing to go to extremes such as kidnapping to keep you. They wanted to take you right after the...accident. You would have been training since then, only I stepped in."

"Why?"

"Because you are the last Witwicky male. Your uncles are each obstacle, either through injury, age or death, and non of them have produced any male heirs while your aunt-"

"No. not that. Why did you stop them? Why did you take me in?"

The reply shocked Tom to the0 core. Snapping his head round so fast his neck cracked, he tried to look at his wife, who was suddenly very interested in her fingernails. What the...?

"Because you're my nephew and I love you."

"Oh."

_Oh?_ _ **OH**_ _? What the hell does that mean?_ Tom's thoughts spun as he stared down at his nephew's closed face. Before he could get into the topic anymore, Sam's next question jolted him out of his confused thoughts.

"When are we going?"

Looking at his wife in apology, he replied, "Now. Go grab the things you'll want for a week, then you can get the rest of your stuff later."

Making no sign of agreement, Sam hopped to his feet and disappeared up into his room, before retuning less than a minute later and holding a suitcase. Seeing his uncle's puzzled look, he merely answered,

"I knew this was going to happen, so I thought I'd save you some time."

Shaking his head and vowing to never let his nephew surprise him again, Tom led the boy out into his Mercedes and quickly drove off to the airbase which would take them to Nevada.

* * *

"Look at you all grown up, the last time I saw you, you were _this_ big-"

"-I knew you parents very well, and was so sorry to hear-"

"-and your sister, how is she? She's in-"

"- _so_ glad to have you here-"

"-Training begins tomorrow-"

"-and Sam-"

"-Sammy-"

"-Witwicky"

"-Kid-"

Sam wanted to scream, and cry and tell everyone _to just leave him fragging alone for two slagging clicks_!

He didn't want to hear about training. He didn't want to hear about the NBEs. He didn't want to hear about The Cube. He didn't want to hear about his sister and he most certainly didn't want to hear about his parents, because every time he did, the huge gaping hole in his chest _hurt hurt hurt_ and no-one could help him and it wasn't fair that these people knew his parents and he only had them for a few years and _he wanted his mommy_!

Slipping away from his guide, some old dude called 'Simmons', he snuck into the hanger when The Cube was stored. Ignoring it, he sunk down into a shadowed corner, and put his hands over his ears, brought his knees to his chest and _cried_.

Everything was just _too much_. Too loud, too crowded, too strange! He wanted Primus and his head _hurt._ Even as he thought it, the pain in his head started nudging, trying to push pictures into his mind. The image of a metallic face with blue optics blossmed in his mind, and despite the overwhelming, almost-forgotten feeling of  _safety_ , he pushed it away as he berated himself. 

' _Freak freak freak **freak!** "_

Ever since he was a baby, he knew he was different ( _he was a freak, that's what the other kids said, and no matter what his momma or Mikaela or Miles said, he knew it was true)_. He was a lot smarter and faster than the people in his class and he had strange dreams. Dreams of a planet made of metal and a beautiful sky. Dreams of a whole other language that sometimes slipped out when he wasn't paying attention. Dreams of a war where a family was torn apart, the planet destroyed and of strange ( _beautiful)_ metal creatures.

These dreams would weave in and out of his sleep, many nights he would wake up screaming from a nightmare when one hurt another and there was _so much_ energon spilling across the floor.

How he knew these things, he didn't know. He just knew he was different. He also had several...experiences when he was in danger. It was like something else would take over his body and he was just watching. It happened during the crash, and once when he was being chased by three big men. One minute he was running faster than he had ever ran before, the next, he was spinning around and attacking the men in a strange fighting technique that looked more like a graceful dance then actual fighting, a fighting technique that had no name because it was taken from a world that had no use for any organic language.

A soft noise startled him out of his memories. Turning his head, his eyes widened when he realised what was making the noise.

A [woman](http://dahlig.deviantart.com/art/The-Oracle-50266146) was hidden in the corner opposite him, kneeling and crying softly. She was wrapped in a soft grey cloak that covered everything except the hollow of her throat, with a hood which shadowed her face. She was curled into herself, as if shielding herself from view. The hood covered most of her face, though her white-blonde hair that fell over her shoulders seemed to glow in the darkness, while tears streamed down her face. Shining silver glyphs covered her skin, gleaming in the dark. Nestled at the base of her throat, a bright blue and glowing stone enclosed by strings of gold hung from a thin silver chain.

The woman took no notice of Sam as he neared her, her grief overpowering her senses.

"Um ma'm? Are you okay?" Sam questioned, eyes wary.

The woman shook her head slowly, still lost in grief.

"No...Gods no" she whispered, voice full of pain.

"What's wrong?" Sam timidly whispered back. Normally, he would have walked on, uncaring, but something about this woman drew him. A warm, loving feeling he had got when his mother had hugged him echoed back through her, weaker, but still there. And, like a moth to a flame, he was drawn towards it.

"Everything." she chocked. "My children are dying. My home is gone. My Champion is as good as dead. Right now, my children are being created in this, this... _pithole_ and tortured and killed and there is _nothing I CAN DO ABOUT IT_!"

Her whispers grew into hysterical shouting as she pressed her eyes shut, her hands moving up to cover her face.

Reaching out, Sam stroked her arm as he tried to provide comfort to her.

However, the moment his skin touched her's, she froze, eyes flying open behind her hands. Slowly, she brought her hands down and locked her eyes with Sam's. Her eyes were filled with disbelief, clear and blue _and the exact same as his_.

"Y-you can see me" She whispered, eyes never leaving Sam's, who nodded dumbly.

"You can touch me" She whispered again, eyes shifting down to her arm, where Sam's hand still rested. "How is that possible?" she asked herself, eyes darting back up to Sam's, roaming his face.

"What's your name?" She asked softly, disbelief and a tinge of hope in her voice.

Sam hesitated before answering, his voice still a whisper.

"Samuel James Witwicky."

She reared back as if stuck, pulling her arm away as if burned. Sam flinched, standing and taking a tentative step back.

"Look ma'm, I'm sorry if-"

Suddenly her arms shot out and he was being cradled against her chest, one hand stroking his hair. Initially he froze at the sudden contact, but the warmth that poured off her made him think of his mother, so he let himself just _give in_. He hugged her back with all his might, tilting his head to hear the whispers being muttered against his hair.

"Oh thank the Gods...My Champion...My Children...Safe...Here... _thankyouthankyouthankyou_!"

When he felt his hair grown wet with her tears he panicked slightly, but then that changed to relief and a little bit of awe and confusion over the fact that she was crying tears of happiness over _him_.

Finally, her tears stopped and she drew back a little, eyes roaming all over him. She looked like she was committing his face to her memory, taking in every freckle, every scar, _everything._

Breaking the silence, Sam asked the question that had been plaguing him every since he saw her.

"Who are you?"

The woman looked at him and broke out into a breathtaking, blinding smile. Laughing, she answered him.

"I have many names. But you, child? You can call me Ally Sparks."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys what the heck is a kudos?


	5. Divergent Arc: Chapter of Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> rev·e·la·tion  
> Noun
> 
> A surprising and previously unknown fact, esp. one made in a dramatic way.  
> The making known of a secret or the unknown.
> 
> Synonyms  
> disclosure - exposure - detection - apocalypse

"Agent Lightning?"

The boy ignored him, fiddling with a complicated piece of machinery, which sent sparks spiking every few minutes.

Jason Wells swallowed, fingers shaking with nerves as he straightened his glasses. Normally, a ten-year-old kid wouldn't intimidate him, but, well, this wasn't exactly a normal case...

* * *

_Samuel Witwicky was Sector 7's worst kept secret. Originally, it had just been the Higher-Uppers that knew about him, but when one bragged to another that a Witwicky had finally returned? Well...it was easier to catch smoke with your bare hands than stop the rumour from infecting every department. Everyone had wanted to see the latest and possibly last Witwicky._

_Several years ago, their top scientists had discovered something remarkable about the whole Witwicky bloodline. The males were all small, speedy and powerful, be it with words or brawn. When research was done into the family past, a shocking and frankly seriously awesome history was brought to light. From as far back as the reign of Caesar, if there was a major battle or scientific discovery, a Witwicky was there. From Generals, to Scientists, to Peacekeepers, it was as if they were drawn to danger, and made groundbreaking discoveries along the way. Their names would be later erased or smeared from history, for national security matters, of course._

_When Ron Witwicky's generation came around, they kept an eye on the family, ready to approach them, but taking their time, as Ron had three other brothers from whom they could choose from._

_Or so they thought._

_First, Ron's youngest brother Michael died in a car crash. Another was paralysed from the neck down in a hold-up gone wrong. Then his eldest brother was deemed sterile and then later too old. Suddenly, Ron was the last of the bloodline. When he finally had a son, they had followed him from day one. What the rest of the world didn't see, they did. They saw the astounding intelligence, the seemingly ceaseless stamina and they wanted him. When the NBE ripped his family apart, it was the perfect time to swoop in and train him to be an 'Elite'._

_Technically, there were eleven levels within Sector 7. However, the workers had grouped these into four main groups._

_At the lowest level was the 'affectionately' named '_ **Plankton'** _. They consisted of mainly interns, need-to-knows and Newbies, who generally all played messenger for the higher groups._

 _Above them were the '_ **Chiefs** _', who were the leading scientists, security forces and liaisons between S7 and the President._

 _Even higher were the imaginably named '_ _**Alpha**_ _ **s** ', who were the head's of S7, with members such as Seymour Simmons and other old names like such._

 _Finally, ranking above even them were the unknown '_ **Elite** _'. Specialist Black-Opp's, Computer Geniuses and Nobel Scientists belonged there, partnered in two's, known only by codenames; identity's hidden to all but their partner. They were fast, sharp and deadly. An Alpha team of strategic specialists could create an infiltration mission in a day, while an Elite would come up with said plan, find and fix all the holes within a few minutes, tops. They were the best of the best, doubled-up as the President's secret police when things that needed done weren't exactly lawful. They _dismantled_ drug rings, terminated terrorists and eradicated the enemy.  
_

_Sam Witwicky was immediately put into training when he first arrived, his day packed with foreign languages, hacking, self-defence, weapons and stealth training. They wanted his training to be complete as fast as possible. A normal Elite would complete this training in five years. They expected him to do it in two. He had completed it in one. He absorbed the information, only needing to be shown it once before being able to list it off from memory at any given moment or have the technique perfected. They simply couldn't keep up with him. It had both delighted and terrified them._

**Genius!** _Most had said._ **A modern Einstein!**

 **Demon!** O _thers, more superstitious, had hissed,_ **No child could learn that much that fast!**

 _He was sharp, fast, ruthless and deadly. Everything an Elite was trained to be. There was a mad scramble to find him a partner, someone who could keep up with him. A Chief who had been blind-side offered to bring in the nephew who had been left in her care, thinking a _familia_ r face would help ground the deadly child. A few half-truths later, and the boy was theirs,_ _quickly trained and finished within two years._

 _Their codenames, Lightning,_ (The boy with eyes like his name, lithe, quick, and shockingly intelligent) _and Blaze_ , (The one who 'blazed' through missions, leaving nothing but a trail of devastation behind him), _became legends by the time they were ten years old, a success rate of 96%, (over a fifth higher than the average rate), were both feared and respected, hated and adored._

_But they were not stupid. They knew they could only trust each other._

* * *

"Agent Lightning?" he tried again, voice a little louder. The boy tensed then relaxed, setting down the wrench on the shiny steel bench. Turning around, Wells realised with a jolt that he was wearing his Elite mask, something every Elite was presented with at the end of their training. Pitch-black, it would cover everything down to just above their mouth, bar two slits for eyeholes and would later be customized to suit the Elite's codename. Thunder's, for example, had swirls of golden clouds to represent thunder. Aqua's was scattered with teardrops of electric blue. Lightning's had both graceful and jagged scars of silver lightning striking across his, with a piece of pure silver rising up the centre of his forehead like a fleur de lis. Matching that with two azure eyes that almost glowed with their intensity, his gaze quite easily pinned the Plankton.

"Director Banchek wishes to speak to you."

Face betraying no emotion, the boy gave a quick nod and moved rapidly towards him, as silent as a ghost. Wells felt frozen by his stare, not releasing his breath until the Elite had brushed passed him and prowled down the dark corridor, soon swallowed up by the shadows.

* * *

Tom Banchek flipped through several old family photos stored on his hi-tech touch screen PADD, just another benefit from working in a top-secret organization; he got technology about ten years in advance. He finally came to rest on a photo that both made him smile with fondness and fight the urge to sob in grief. His beautiful sister was kneeling on a patch of bright green grass with her husband's-a man Tom had considered his own brother-arm around her shoulder. Up on Ron's shoulders was his curly haired niece, grinning at the camera. Shaking his head, he forced away thoughts about her. He had promised Judy that he would keep her kids safe, should something happen to her. He was unable to save Sam, but he would be damned if they took his niece too. Finally, his eyes fell on the person who truly caused him the most pain. His nephew was being hugged by his mother, her chin on his copper head, his sky-blue eyes clear and happy as his laugh was caught in time. He was happy, honest, whole. And now that little boy was gone, replaced by an ice-cold pre-teen.

Tom buried his head in his hands. He had _failed_ his sister. He left his only nephew alone with his wife, because he couldn't look at him without seeing the echo of his baby sister staring back. He didn't help him get through the loss of his family, letting him turn cold. He didn't fight S7 hard enough, letting him be taken and trained for all hours of the day. _He didn't protect him_.

And now, he was going to abandon him.

_He couldn't do it anymore._

He couldn't look at his nephew and not see his sister. He couldn't talk to him and not see how much he had failed. He couldn't even be in the same room as him and not have his instincts scream, _**DANGER! STRANGE! FREAK!**_ It hurt too much and he was a coward. So, he started distancing himself from the boy six months ago, and from here on in, as far as he was concerned, his nephew died on the last mission in India and was replaced by an Elite called 'Lightning'.

"You summoned me, Uncle?"

The cool voice broke Tom out of his miserable thoughts. Flicking his eyes up, he let them roam his nephew's face taking in ever scar he had gained in the last three years, wanting to memorise it one last time.

"Yes, Sam. I have made a decision regarding our relationship. I have decided that it would be best if we kept it strictly professional."

_There!_

There it was. The emotional rise he had desperately wanted to get out of him for the last four years. Sam gave a tiny jerk backwards, but it seemed as if he would have been better backhanding him. His eyes flashed with a mixture of anger, pain and shock, before fading into cool acceptance.

The Elite nodded, face clear.

"Of course, sir." He agreed, his voice smooth and courteous.

He backed out of the room, eyes never moving from the spot above Tom's head, slipping his mask back on and letting the door fall shut behind him.

* * *

He pressed his thumb to the doorknob with a trembling hand, gaining entry to his room. His room was like something from the future, all silver and smooth and shiny. He tore his mask from his face and threw it onto his unmade bed, ripping off his long, dark cloak and letting darkness pool at his feet.

His shoulders shook as he tried to stop the sobs from spilling free. His will was broken, however, when thin, but strong arms encircled him and a gentle hand caressed his hair. He buried his head in her chest and cried like the child he wished he could be. The cold shell he had used to block everyone out from when he was six finally shattered. He cried for his parents, taken too soon. He cried for his sister who no longer contacted him. He cried for the aunt and uncle who did not or would not care for him. And finally, he cried for himself.

She didn't say anything, merely rocked him in her arms, whispering soothing nonsense. Most of her mind was focused on the heart-broken boy in her arms, but a smaller part rebelled.

 _You know his destiny..._ it whispered, curling around her thoughts, _Do not allow yourself to become too close, a champion's life always ends in pain..._

She banished the voice, though a small part of her agreed with it, knowing that because she let herself love him as a son, she was only setting herself up for more heartbreak. Soon, his cry's ceased and his gasps halted. Ally pulled away slightly, smoothing some of her white blonde hair that fell out of her messy bun behind her ears. She grabbed a few tissues from the desk and softly erased any signs of upset from his face. Neither said anything, for neither had too.

The silence snapped with a quick knock at the door, and Ally vanished in a swirl of sparks. The door slid open and Blaze stood there, his blue eyes locked with Sam's electric. He glided in, before pulling Sam into a tight hug.

Blaze was Sam's partner, best friend and, in all but blood, brother. They seemed as if they were complete opposites of each other, though. Blaze was open, Sam was closed. Blaze was softer, Sam was sharp. Blaze preferred full brute force, Sam went for stealth. Yet, despite all that, they were closer than thought possible. They could practically read each other's mind, so Blaze knew just how Sam felt.

Finally, they separated.

"You okay?" He whispered, sighing at Sam's tight nod.

"Yeah, thanks Miles'" Sam replied just as softly. Miles removed his mask, letting his sandy blonde bangs fall into his eyes, his gleaming teeth nibbling on his bottom lip, looking the part of a quintessential 'Surfer-Guy'. They sat on the edge of Sam's bed together, Miles offering his silent support as Sam tried to piece himself back together.

"I'm done."

Sam kept his eyes on the ground, ignoring his brother's confused stare.

"Huh?"

"I'm done with this whole 'apple-pie' family bullshit. Everyone who has the same blood as me is either six feet under, or can't look me in the eye. Everything I touch just seems to turn to ash. I'm just not meant to have a family, and I'm not going to try and find one."

His voice was soft but unshaken with his conviction, his eyes far away as the faces of his family flashed in front of his eyes. Miles felt a stab of fear, the words sounding terrifyingly like the man who had been like an older brother to them both, before he became nothing more than a shell of himself.

"Sam, wait-"

He broke off with a curse as his wireless headset in his ear let out a shrilling shriek. Fumbling with his gloves, he pulled them off and pushed his thumb against 'Accept Call' button on his miniature PADD on his wrist.

"Blaze reporting, go ahead."

" _Pyro, need you and the Kid down in Level 5, corridor T2, room H8, ASAP"_

Miles gave an unimpressed snort at Simmons' nicknames for the two of them. He had an odd habit of ignoring most S-7 protocols and would hand out nicknames like pixie sticks. He got 'Pyro' because he...well…he liked to destroy all evidence of a mission with fire. Sam got 'Kid' because he was only eight when he completed his training, while Miles himself was about ten. And…

Wait…

"Room _H8_?" Miles repeated incredulously.

" _Yes_."

"…H8?" He mentally flicked through the plans of the headquarters. Nope, no Room existed. On either that corridor or anywhere else in the complex.

" _Pyro, I thought you were meant to be an Elite. Aren't they meant to remember everything? Stop repeating everything I say!_ "

"…Simmons, there is no room H8." Miles spoke slowly, as if he was speaking to a small child.

" _Yes there is._ "

"...No there isn't."

" _Yes. There. Is_." Simmons spoke through gritted teeth, a huff of air passing through his nose in frustration.

"No. There. Isn't! Me and Lightning know this place like the back of our hands, there is no room H8!"

" _That's because you haven't had clearance until now!"_

"WHAT? BUT-"

"What do you mean, we didn't have clearance? No offence Simmons, but ours is higher than yours."

Miles flicked his eyes over to Sam, who was across his bed with his head tipped to the floor, looking unruffled and calmly composed. The fact that his brother could so easily flip on the mask that entirely hid his emotions still made the blonde worry for him. If he could hide his emotions so easily, how could Miles know when he really needed help?

"… _Kid, you have **got** to stop hacking into our calls."_

" _Meh, I got bored. Now, what's this about room H8?"_

" _Just come down to level 5 and swipe your pass at the storage closet at the end."_ His voice whined across the line, clearly tired of the boys confusion, before cutting the connection with a dull beep.

The duo shared a glance, then grabbed their gear and hurried to the door, pulling it on as they went, yet again slipping on both their Elite and emotional masks, moving swiftly from Sam & Miles to Lightning and Blaze.

* * *

The two Elites started at the nondescript brown door at the end of the corridor, before sharing a glance. They seemed to converse through their eyes only, until finally the one with flames licking his mask pulled off his glove and pressed a thumb to the doorknob as his 'pass'.

The effect was instantaneous. A large section of the wall in front of them shivered, then started to sink into the floor, revealing a large, heavy bank-vault door behind it, which swung open.

"Come on in boys!" came Simmons' cheerful shout.

They shared another glance, before cautiously entering the vault, gun and dagger in hand, shoulder to shoulder, scanning the room for possible dangers.

Their sharp eyes took in the rugged claw marks on the otherwise smooth metal walls that lined it, the towering filing cabinet and the seemingly endless amount of wires that led to a bulletproof glass box standing in the centre of the room. They approached it warily, their eyes falling on Simmons' grinning face. The hairs on the back of Lightning's neck stood up as he gazed into it, an unknown yet freakily familiar energy seeming to fill the room.

"What is this?" Blaze breathed, his eyes on the wires that disappeared into the floor and walls.

"How many NBEs are on the planet right now?" Simmons ignored the question with one of his own.

"Three confirmed, NBE-1, NBE-3 and NBE-5." Lightning replied distractedly, his voice a flat monotone.

"Correct. And, what does NBE stand for?"

"Non-Biological Extra-terrestrials." Blaze shot back. "What's with the pop-quiz?"

Again, he was ignored. "Give me you PADD."

Lightning quickly complied, unstrapping it from his arm and handing it over. With practised ease, Simmons unlatched the door of the box and slipped it in, before again securing it tightly. Handing over two other pairs to the Elites, he slipped on a pair of goggles.

"This, kids, is a NB _T_."

He snatched up a little box about the size of his hand with a large red button, and smashed it down.

What happened next left Lightning breathless.

Crackling blue energy filled the box and symbols exploded across his eyes, moving too fast for him to analyse and his PADD transformed.

A tiny NBT blinked back at him, its jade optics winking on and off, before it burst into a stream of chatter. When that achieved no response, it replayed it, growing louder and louder, before launching itself against the side of the box. Blaze pushed himself back from the box, his gun already pointed in its direction, just waiting for the command to fire from his partner.

When he received none, he turned to look at him, nearly dropping his gun at the unhidden, overwhelming horror on the other ten year old's face.

"We call them NBTs, Non-Biological _Terrestrial_ s. We're able to take the energy from The Cube and funnel it into that box. Took us _years_ to build it and would take years to build another."

"What do you do with them?" Lightning's eyes burned as he stared at the thing as it started to open fire on the box, its mechanical chatter speeding up.

"We can't take them out of the box, last time we did, it killed about four scientists. So we funnel smaller amounts of energy into the box to see how it reacts, until a large blast kills them." Simmons relayed this all with a maniacal grin on his face, not noticing Lightning's hate filled eyes on him.

"Of course, that makes- _WHAT ARE YOU DOING_?"

Both Simmons and Blaze could only stare at Lightning in shock as he held the small black box in one hand, dagger in the other, his chest heaving and eyes flashing.

"Getting rid of the thing?" Simmons answered timidly with his hands in the air, eyes never leaving the dagger.

"Very well. As An Elite, I am ordering you to leave the room while we perform some experiments and eliminate the threat."

Lightning's voice was calm and confident, in direct contrast to his shaking hands and hellfire eyes.

"You can't-"

"-That was me asking politely, remove yourself before I do it personally." He cut across, voice leaving no room for argument.

Simmons glared at him for a moment, before admitting silent defeat and storming from the room, the door slamming shut behind him.

Blaze kept his mask up until Simmons had let the room, then whirled around and snatched it off, letting Miles return.

"DUDE? WHAT THE H-hell?" Miles started with a shout, before dropping to a confused whisper.

Sam's mask and gloves were on the floor and he was slowly slipping his hand into the box. When the NBT turned to fire, three things happened at once.

First, Miles pulled his gun back from his belt and aimed straight on the thing.

Two, The NBT fired.

Three, Sam cooed to the NBT in the same chatter it had screamed and his eyes flashed an unearthly blue twice.

_"Peace, little one. I am not going to hurt you"_

Sam didn't even flinch as the tiny bullet impacted with his palm, his eyes locked with its tiny green optics. They stared down each other, until the tiny thing let out some more chatter, its tiny frame trembling.

" _You...you understand me?"_

Miles's eyebrows flew to his hairline and almost dropped his gun when Sam answered back in a language that shouldn't even be possible for him to speak.

 _"Yes, little one. It's okay. I will not hurt you: You're safe now."_  
  
The NBT didn't move for a second, then threw itself into Sam's hand, chattering hysterically. He withdrew his hand from the box slowly and carefully smoothed its helm with his thumb, cradling it against his chest.

"Miles, give me your PADD." He never lifted his gaze from the thing in his arms, continuing to soothe it in murmured tones.

"Why?!" He had so many questions he needed answered. Why are you protecting it, Sam? Why are you talking it, Sam?  _Have you finally lost your fucking mind, Sam?!_

"We need to get her out of here." He answered back softly as too not startle the now placated NBT, who stared back at him with neon eyes.

" _Her_? How do you know it's a _her_? How do you know what its saying? Why do we need to get it out of here? Dammit Sam, you're not making sense!" Miles spoke urgently, his own blue eyes gleaming as he tried to understand what his brother was talking about.

Sam's eyes finally met Miles and he wished they didn't. Never before had he seen such _fury_ in his brother's eyes. When he answered, his voice was shaking with suppressed rage.

"They are children, Miles."

"What?"

"These NBT's? They are children. They are innocent children who are brought into a world, only to be tortured over and over again, until they finally die. Frightened, innocent _children_!"

Miles shook his head, the room spinning around him. "It's an NBE! It's the enemy!"

"She doesn't even have a _name_ yet! She's just a child, she's not a threat to anyone!"

"But, but it…it _attacked_ the glass!" He was grasping at straws now and he knew it.

" _She_ was cornered and scared, of course she attacked! Hell, _we've_ done the same when we're cornered!"

The younger shook his head tightly, twisting around and pacing angrily. "Sam...Sam, _think_ about what you're suggesting! These things are NB technology! They cannot be trusted! Hell, next thing you'll be saying is that you wanna go skipping in the daisies with a bunch of NBEs!" he let out a sharp laugh, which tapered off when Sam merely looked back at him.  
  
"Oh no...oh _hell_ no!"

"Miles-"

"-Have you completely _lost your mind?!_ What in the name of the Gods makes you think for even a _second_ that those damn aliens are anything but fucking evil?!"

"Miles-!"

"-Look, I know you're upset about the Director, but for Hera's sake-!"

"What do NBE-1, NBE-2 and NBE-5 have in common?"

"They're need to murder everything in their path?" Miles spat, lips pressed together tightly. His brother all but growled at him in response.

"Their eyes."

"... _What?"_

"NBE-1, 2 and 5 all have red eyes. They all murdered everything in sight, without remorse. NBE-3 and NBE-4 have blue eyes, and neither of them caused any injury to any human, even the ones trying to kill them."

"Sam..." Miles shook his head, trying to push down the voice that started to agree with him, "...look, that's not enough evidence to-"

"Miles, that's only under Tom's watch. There are other records, going back _centuries_ that say the same thing."

Miles shook his head again, gripping his hair tightly. "Sam...you realise what you're saying, right? You're talking about going against the thing that  _built_ S-7. You're talking about..." He glanced around himself and dropped his voice to a whisper, as if trying to keep anybody from overhearing, "...you're talking about  _betraying_ S-7. Betraying your _family._ For what, the _possibility_ that _some_ of the NBE's might not want us dead?"

The other Elite shut his eyes and clenched his jaw, shaking his head slowly. "Miles, if I'm right...then we've been hurting innocent people, the ones we _swore_ to protect. We _have_ to do something."

"Sam!" Miles shot across the room, gripping Sam's forearms tightly. "Jesus Christ, think of what you are going to be throwing away! We can go to any college we want; live wherever we want; we're guaranteed a salary of at least 190k; we can have, get or do whatever we want! You'll be turning your back on your blood! On everything we've trained for, everything your family has done! And for _what?!_ The slightest _chance_ that _some_ of our number one enemy _might_ not squash us like bugs?! Hell, they could end up siding with the red eyes anyway! You're sacrificing your entire life...are you sure it's going to be worth it?"

The copper-haired Elite stared at his brother for a second, before dropping his eyes back down the now sleeping NBT. He gently smoothed his thumb over its helm, before sighing and shaking his head.

"Family motto, Miles." Eyes that were too old for such a young face flicked up and seared the blonde, "'No sacrifice, no victory.'"

They stared each other down for thirty seconds which seemed to last a lifetime, until Miles unstrapped his PADD and handed it to Sam. He shifted the NBT in his arms, muttering what seemed like apologies as he jolted her awake. He clicked the button on the handheld device once; watching as crackling energy filled the box, barely flinching when it suddenly leapt _through_ the box and up his arm. Only then, did he place Miles's PADD into the box and lock the door. Miles held out his arm as Sam whispered something to the NBT, which then scanned Miles with its shinning optics, before nervously sliding onto his wrist and transforming back into a PADD.

Moving swiftly, they threw up their masks once more and Lightning and Blaze strode from the room and out past a spluttering Simmons, making their way back into Sam's room.

* * *

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" his voice was soft as he looked down at the sleeping form of the NBT, whom he had dubbed Quickfire after her sharp reflexes.

"You weren't ready to know." Ally whispered back, one hand moving as if to cup the little one's face, but never actually touching. "You were happy to learn the language and a few stories, but to know that your family was merely collateral damage in a far-off war? You already despised the entire race-"

"-I didn't"

"I have seen your thoughts Sam." Though her tone was firm, the voice was soft, understanding. "You hated them. You despised them with every cell in your body. You wanted the entire race to burn so they would feel the pain you felt when your parents were murdered, your sister isolated from you and your childhood stolen. If you learned too soon that there was both light and darkness within the race, you would immediately blame those who swore to protect others for 'not doing their job' and push them away. You needed to see it for yourself, or you would be furious, and push away everything to do with it."

The boy closed his eyes and buried them in his hands, shaking as he tried to fight the guilt and self-hate that was swirling inside him. Ally placed a hand on his shoulder and drew him close, brushing away his whispered pleas for forgiveness.

"There is nothing to forgive little one. You are only a child, and yet you see the truth, which many elders don't."

"They're going to keep doing this, aren't they?" Sam shook his head, his voice muffled as he stated the question, already knowing the answer.

"Yes."

"And I can't tell them what they are?"

"They would not believe you, and you would be placed under so much scrutiny that you could not help those who need you."

"What can I do?" his voice desperate as he tried to figure a way to stop the madness that took place beneath him.

"I think you know."

And he did, he knew _exactly_ what he had to do.

But first...

"What were they fighting over?"

"...Before time began, there was the Cube. We know not where it comes from, only that it holds the power to create worlds and fill them with life. That was how their race was born. But like all great power, some wanted it for good, others for evil..."

* * *

"So, Elite, you want to be part of the NBT program?"

"Yes sir."

"Well, your reasoning that you submitted seems sound...what do you want from this?"

"Oh, sir, I just want to be in the room when the things are created and be given sometime at the end to study the shell afterwards."

"Very well, welcome aboard Agent Lightning."

* * *

From there on, it was simple.

Experiments were planned months in advance, only one, maybe two NBT's being created each year. Once the two Elites found out what sort of device would be used, they would sneak a copy in with Lightning. Once the NBT was brought online, he would calm it and whisper the plan to it in a hushed whisper, too low for human ears to detect. He would then place a naked hand on the box. With every jolt of power, in that momentary blindness, it would jump to him, causing a shockwave of red-hot pain to race up his arm. When the NBT 'died' he would be left alone with the 'dead' shell. A simple matter of swapping the transformed NBT with the unused device, and Lightning would casually stroll from the room, smuggling the child out from under the noses of all involved.

It was betraying everything they had been taught.

It was siding with a bunch of aliens over their own race.

It was _perfect._


	6. Divergent Arc: Discovered

Sam walked down the corridor, feeling the eyes of the Elites who followed him in the shadows. He flew into his room, dead bolting the door behind him, greeted with cries of welcome and being tackled by ecstatic NBT's.

Sam's eyes flicked Miles, who was watching him with worried eyes and passed on the message.

They knew.

Sam could tell that the other Elite's knew something was up with him and Miles. They knew it had something to do with the NBT's, but they didn't know what. They didn't know what they were doing, nor have any evidence to back them up, but they  _knew._

On more than one occasion, a handful of Elite's, usually five or more, led by Fault Line, an Elite who hated Sam with all his might, would burst into Sam's room, weapons drawn, only to find Sam raise a single eyebrow as he lounged on his bed, reading Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War'.

Of course, unknown to them, the moment they were far enough away, seven NBT's would either sneak out from under Sam's bed or transform out of the various electrical devices that filled his room.

The rescue operation for the NBT's or, as Sam called them, 'Sparklings', was very successful. Every Sparkling that was created within the last four years was saved, and then cared for by the brothers. Miles' contacts on the outside world sent in barrels after barrels of gas to feed the little ones. They downloaded earth's languages and easily conversed with the boys in a mixture of Latin, Italian and English.

Sam was able to hijack the security cameras and play back the last few minutes on a loop, so none could see him smuggling the Sparklings out. Their main fear was S-7 detecting the Sparklings, however, after three months in, it hit Sam like a bolt of lightning and he cursed himself for not being able to see it sooner. Currently, the only way S-7 could detect the NBE's was through the high levels of radiation that they carried with them when the crashed on earth. The Sparklings never traveled through space, thus didn't carry any radiation, so they were undetectable.

The two Elite's, however, knew they were tempting fate. While they were good at covering their asses, they knew it wouldn't be long before S-7 fashioned devices to detect Sparks, and then they would be  _screwed_. The only way to keep the Sparklings safe would be a safe house, far away from S-7 headquarters, preferably in another country completely.

But who would take in a bunch of metal children? The only people who actually knew about them were all in S-7, they would need to find someone who had left...

_Thwack!_

Two palms connected with two foreheads in disbelief that they had actually missed it. How did they not think of her, after months of worrying?

"My aunt." Miles stated, eyes still pressed shut, shaking his head in disbelief. "We'll send them to Melissa."

* * *

Miles' aunt Melissa was once a Chief in S-7. In fact, she was the one who signed the documents giving her consent for Miles' Elite training. Of course, at the time, she had been told that it was a contract giving her approval of Miles staying overnight at the headquarters. When she had realised that she had been tricked, she signed a non-disclosure agreement and got the first flight back to the city she was raised, Berlin, Germany. She still kept very close contact with Miles', visiting when possible and conversing electronically. She was trained in basic self-defence, a paternal figure and had very high morals. She would be perfect.

"I'll go call her." Miles sighed, punching in the number for a secure call out of headquarters.

* * *

The flickering light was a perfect cover for the Elite sneaking down the corridor, his dark cloak softening his figure, making him harder to glimpse. The flickering light left patches of shadows and plunged the corridor in and out of darkness, allowing the Elite to blend in with said shadows, becoming practically untraceable. Coming to stop outside the storage door, instead of letting it read his thumbprint as usual; his gloved fingers scrabbled across it, prying off the metal cover and delving into the uncountable wires hidden beneath. After a few minutes of frustrated cursing and sparking wires, the Elite gave a soft crow of delight as the wall shuddered and sank into the floor. Wasting no time, he sped in thorough the small crack created by the slowly opening door and made his way into the centre of the room. The emergency light made his eyes glow as he walked over to the first set of wires.

"Simmons said it would take years to create another. Well, they'd better start remodelling."

The Elite gave a chilling smile and pulled a dagger from his belt, before slashing down on the reinforced wires, which stood no chance against the now  _Cybertronian_ -reinforced blade. He flashed around the room, slicing every wire that led to the much-hated Box. When that was complete, he moved onto the Box itself, deciding to go with the more refined method. Grabbing a screwdriver from his belt, he proceeded to make the Box fall apart, the screws hitting the ground with satisfied clinks. He also manually dismantled the laser inside, lifting every piece and dropping it into his seemingly bottomless pockets, soon leaving only a few sheets of bullet-proof glass abandoned on the floor.

He moved soundlessly onto his next project. Hacking. Booting up the nearest computer, he quickly by-passed the firewalls until he came to the actual plans of the Box. With a satisfied grin, he entered a string of codes, watching happily as every record of the Box or the NBT's, be it plans, materials, mannerisms or reports, was purged from the system, leaving nothing but the Cybertronian glyph for 'Revenge' it their places.

" **ALERT! ALERT! UNKNOWN SIGNATURE ACESSING SYSTEM! ALERT! ALERT!"**

The Elite yelped as the room was bathed in flashing red light and a ringing alarm screamed across the intercoms. He turned and quickly fled, only just slipping out of the room before the large vault door slammed shut.

Hearing footsteps pound against the floor, he shrunk against the wall as the corridor was filled with members from all levels. Knowing it would look suspicious if he arrived last, he quickly slipped into the centre of the crowd, falling into place with his partner.

Their blue eyes met and the question passed between the two.

_Did you complete your mission?_

A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth and Lightning relaxed imperceptibly, tilting his head in admiration at Blaze's fast and effective work, quickly schooling his features into the appropriate amount of appalled horror when Aqua turned to ask his opinion.

_Stage 1, Sabotage: complete._

* * *

A petit brunette stood, arms folded, foot tapping as she stared down at nervous sectary, who wouldn't look up to meet her flashing hazel eyes. "Ma'm, I've already explained, I do not know what you're talking about, there is no Sector-7 headquarters here."

The brunette seemed unimpressed with that answer and merely cocked an eyebrow, her face hard.

"Look ma'm, I'll have to ask you to-"

"-that's okay, Mr Evans. I can take it from here."

Evans' froze as a gloved had gripped his shoulder. He peered up through his mousey, wire-like hair, at the cloaked Elite, gulping when he recognized the flame covered mask.

"B-but sir-"

"-Are you questioning my authority?"

Evans flinched. While Blaze was known to be much softer and forgiving partner, unlike Lightning, he had quite a temper which blew up very easily. Many had seen it and even more feared it.

"Of course not Sir. Ms Lancaster, would you come with me please?"

"Ja, of course." The Elite, in a rare moment of normally unseen humanity, offered her his arm. The woman smiled vaguely, linking her arm with his. "I'm glad to see you have kept your manners, Mein Stern."

The emotionless Elite would never show any sign of warmth or humor, his mouth untwitching. However, if one knew how to look closely enough, they would see how his eyes glittered behind it.

He led her down a hidden corridor and they melted into the shadows, as if they had never been there in the first place.

* * *

They stared at each other, each refusing to break. Neither would give in to the others demands, neither would let themselves blink as they locked gazes, defiance written deep in both their DNA's.

The seconds stretched and Quickfire broke.

"Slag."

"Watch your language."

"You're a terrible big brother. You're meant to sneak me unleaded and let me stay up late watching Doctor Who, not ground me!"

"Uh-huh, when we get out of this mess, then I'll do all that, but until then, I'll the stern older brother, 'kay?"

"Frag off."

" _Quickfire!"_

Sam shook his head at the pouting femme, who was the equivalent of a human four-year-old. Several of the other Sparklings looked on with interest. Sony, the play station and Sonic, the stereo, were placing bets on how long her grounding would be this time, while SkyLight, the sky blue RC helicopter, flew around the room in her bi-pedal mode, something that looked akin to a large metal eagle, whizzing happily and plaguing Freeze-Flame, a short tempered mini-fridge who tended to shoot blasts of ice-cold air at his annoying siblings, causing them to freeze mid-step.

"Okay, that's enough! Quickfire, you are on time-out for eight minutes! Sony and Sonic, give me those Wi-Fi chips right now! SkyLight, you are on time-out for six minutes! Freeze-Flame, stop trying to freeze your sister! SwiftWing, come down here for your petrol and Digi, so help me God, I will solder your behind to that berth!"

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose as the Sparklings quickly followed orders and fell into place, Quickfire taking the corner by the bed while SkyLight swooped down from the hanging lamp shade, folding back into her alt-mode. Freeze-Flame powered down, clicking in sorrow as he tentatively placed a peace-offering of Coke to Sam, while Sony and Sonic placed the chips at his feet before jumping onto the bed, their little legs swinging. Digi, the apple-green mini-laptop, gingerly sat back down on the berth she had risen from, rubbing her still sore leg, the result of a scientific experiment that Sam hadn't been present for until near the end. SwiftWing plunged down like his twin, landing expertly on Sam's shoulder and accepted the cup of petrol Sam offered, gulping it down eagerly.

Sighing, Sam reached up and stroked SwiftWing's right wing as he moved to check the damage on Digi, cleaning up any spilt energon and rotating her leg in something close to physiotherapy for robots. When all was deemed clear, he stood up, running his fingers through his hair, before collapsing on the bed beside Sony and Sonic, head cradled in his arms, looking completely shattered. SwiftWing nuzzled the side of his neck, clicking and chirping sleepily, while his twin soon left her spot and followed suit on his other shoulder. Sonic and Sony abandoned all attempts of trying to prove themselves as 'the tough ones' and curled up into Sam's sides, their helms pressed tight alongside him and their arms around his waist. Freeze-Flame and Quickfire claimed a leg each and curled up against them and they clung tightly, while Digi was effortlessly plucked from the far side of the bed and plopped into Sam's lap. He put his arms around him the best he could and dropped his voice to a whisper, falling into Cybertronian almost without realising.

" _I know why you're acting out like this."_  He murmured softly, his eyes remaining closed.

" _You don't want to leave."_

" _No, we don't!_ " Quickfire huffed; her optics misting as she looked up at the boy they all considered an older brother.

Sam smiled sadly; unsurprised it was her chosen to give the opinion of the day. Quickfire herself was the oldest of the group, who was followed by Digi a year later. SwiftWing and SkyLight had arrived together, like twins, after an experiment with two electronic devices instead of one. Freeze-Flame was one of the youngest; only beat by Sony and Sonic who were currently only onlined less than a week ago.

They didn't want to leave him, and he didn't want them to go either. Despite the fact that they highly advanced robotic organisms and he was an organic, he could feel and almost tangible bond between, linking them to him. They were his younger brothers and sisters, no matter what race they were.

They sat like that for what seemed like hours, the peaceful scene only broken when seven sharp knocks and then three more, a long pause between each one, rapped against Sam's door.

"Enter!"

The door swung open and Blaze slid in, followed by his aunt. Sam stood up, the best he could with seven Sparklings hanging from various parts of his body, reaching out to shake Melissa's hand.

"Good Afternoon, Melissa, how was your trip?"

"It was fine Blitz, thank you." The Sparklings looked up at her with appraising optics, comforted at the sound of her soft voice.

"Thank You. For doing this. For agreeing to this." Sam dropped to a hushed whisper, his voice swelling with gratitude.

Melissa pinned him with her gaze, seeming to be searching for something, which she evidently found as she smiled warmly at him.

"I'll protect them with my life."

Nodding, Sam sat down once more and started untangling the Sparklings from him. The sight was heartbreaking. Digi stood tall, but her frame shook as she tried to suppress her sobs. Freeze-Flame sat down and bawled, his optics misting. SwiftWing and SkyLight rested their heads on each other's shoulders in a sign of comfort, while Sony and Sonic sat beside Freeze-Flame, their lower lips quivering as they reached up to Sam hopelessly. Quickfire was the worse off. She clung to Sam screaming and kicking, seeming determined not to be separated.

Blaze returned from his room, carrying a large box. With shaking fingers, he removed his mask as the little ones jumped him, wailing and begging not to be sent away. Brushing the tears away, he hugged them tightly before lifting them, one by one, and settling them into the blanket filled box, which was big enough to hold all of them and had a few sets of battery powered fairy lights to keep it well lit, as well as a few books and hand-held games systems for them to play with.

Glancing over, he met Melissa's tear filled eyes as she watched Sam and Quickfire, putting a hand over her mouth to silence herself. Sam was holding Quickfire tight against his chest and whispering soothing Cybertronian to her, seeming unaware of the tremor in his voice or the tears that blurred his vision, yet refused to fall as he soothed the little femme who sobbed against his chest. Slowly, tenderly, he untangled her strong fingers from his shirt and carried her over to the box, sliding her in and kissing all of the Sparklings on the helm, before stepping back and allowing Miles to slide the lid back on.

The two brothers stood shoulder to shoulder, silently giving each other comfort as Melissa gently lifted the box and, stopping only to give her nephew a one-armed hug and to squeeze Sam's shoulder, quickly spun on her heel and sped through the open door, knowing that if she slowed, the boys would only come up with elaborate plans to keep the Sparklings, putting all of them in danger.

The door closed behind her, the soft click sending a sudden shock finality washing over the brothers, as if they had been drenched with icy-cold water. With a soft hitch in his breathing, Miles dropped onto the bed running his fingers through his hair. Sam continued to stare at the door, before he slowly, as if his limbs had forgotten how to move, dragged himself away from it and into the bathroom, softly closing the door behind him, gripping the sink as his shoulders shook as he suppressed his tears.

The logical, Elite,  _Lightning_ , side of his brain told him that this was a good thing; the Sparklings would be away from danger and the suspicion shrouding both him and Blaze would be lifted.

The emotional, Civilian,  _Sam_ , half of his brain was crying out for his siblings and saw his family being ripped apart infront of his eyes once more.

_Stage 2,_  He choked out, his sobs clogging his throat,  _Extraction: Complete_

* * *

Days blended into weeks which disappeared into months. As planned, Melissa made no contact, other than the odd message once or twice a month, which more often than not contained a hidden message as to the Sparklings moral, simple things such as rearranging every third word or taking every capital letter to form 'Sparklings safe'

In the meantime, both Sam and Miles threw themselves into their missions and planning. Their missions became more precise, in and out in minutes, and their planning, plans for eventual escape from S-7, took them late into the night.

It was about six months after the smuggling of the Sparklings when Sam's faint grip on luck slipped...

He entered the training room, just wishing for a punching bag to tale his anger for the Director out on, only to stop short when his eyes landed on Aqua and Thunder, who were darting around each other in a deadly dance, gleaming Katanas flashing through the air, sharp clinks indicating when one blade had struck another.

Aqua's fiery hair whipped around her as she spun and weaved, only slowing when her jade eyes landed on Lightning. Thunder also froze, his stormy grey eyes darting from Lightning, to the door, then to several other points in the room, such as the gymnastic benches and deadly weapons, from Katanas, to throwing stars, to heavy chains, that lined the east wall. Lightning went to speak, only to find his throat clam up as both Aqua and Thunder tilted their heads to the side as they received a transmission over their PADD's. Their eyes widened, almost comically, before narrowing once more as they stared at Lightning. Struggling to keep the panic rising in his chest, Lightning put a closed fist over his chest and dipped his head towards the two in the formal Elite sign for apology.

"I'm sorry; I didn't know this room was taken, my apologies for disturbing you."

Turning, despite all of his instincts screaming not to bare his back to them, Lightning moved to make his way over to the door, only to find his way blocked by two very burley Elites. Twin brothers Whirlwind, the one was dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes, wearing a mask covered in miniature twisters, and Cobra, the one with chocolate hair and the same eyes of his twin, his own mask that of the twisting body of the cobra.

Lightning's eyes darted left and right, not missing the hands hovering concealed weapons.

_Okay_ , he forced himself to think positively,  _Four-on-one. I can do that. Four on, oh better make that six... Eight..._

Sam slowly turned in spot as he realised what was happening. As more and more Elites joined the group, the more cut off he was becoming. There seemed to be an endless supply of them, they simply slunk out of the shadows like some type of demonic shade, only their eyes and sometimes hair visible, if they did not keep their cloak hoods up.

"SAM!" Miles screeched into his ear. Sam didn't let his shock show as he slowly circled, eyes darting from Elite to Elite.

"Report!" Sam barked, his hand ghosting over both his gun and dagger, as the other Elite's closed in.

"They know! Jesus Sam, they found the hack! They found the CTV and know that you smuggled the Sparklings out of there! They know you smuggled them out of S-7 too! Jesus Sam, they know everything! You've got to get out of there!"

"Yeah, that's going to be a slight problem." Sam whispered, forcing his tone to stay light.

"...Why?" Miles' voice was also a flat, forced calm, though Sam knew that he knew there was something wrong.

"I'm kinda surrounded twenty two-to-one."

"...frag."

"Yup."

"I'll be-"

"Don't you dare." Sam cut him off, his voice harsh. "This is an order Blaze. Stay. Where. You. Are."

"But-"

"I am authorizing Alpha Beta Skylight Fourteen.

"WHAT! Sam, no-"

"That's an order agent Blaze. You are to remove yourself from this organization and lay low, ensuring that the precious cargo is safe and secure. I'll rendezvous with you ASAP, understood?"

It sometimes even frightened Sam how easily he slipped into 'alpha' mode, his voice becoming flat and with an undeniable edge of 'no-nonsense'-ness that made all who heard think of an army general.

The silence over the link told Sam exactly what was happening. He could practically hear Miles and Blaze arguing with eachother, Miles wanting to protect Sam and Blaze having to follow a direct order.

When Blaze spoke again, he knew the battle was one, for only he would know to leave one man behind to save a family of children.

"Cr-crystal, Sir. Stay Safe."

Stay safe. Lightning wanted to throw back his head and laugh. Safe? When was anything he did safe? Nonetheless, he nodded, knowing miles couldn't see him and answered.

"Yes sir, same with you. And... Miles," Sam's voice softened as he continued, "you were the best partner I could ask for and a brilliant brother."

He closed the connection before Miles could reply, knowing if he hesitated any longer, it could lead not only to his death, but the one of Miles and possibly the Sparklings. He slid his dagger out from its sheath, spinning it in his hand. There was a moment a pure silence until, like some unspoken command, every Elite sprang forward with an animalist snarl.


	7. Divergent Arc: Abscoding

Light was only a sliver through swollen eyes, incandescent screaming echoed through his head and flames of pain licked every nerve.

Sam cracked open heavy eyes, his breath coming in rugged gasps. He was curled up on his bedroom floor, every part of his body aching. He slowly rolled on to his side, having to hold back a scream when white-hot pain flashed across his midsection...

* * *

_Lightning was a fantastic fighter, but even the strongest fighter falls from overwhelming numbers. They overpowered him and dragged him through the winding corridors, seeming unfeeling to his dirty fighting of biting and scratching, his panic making him feral. He made a desperate break for freedom, only to be slammed down by both Swiftfoot and Viper, and his arm-twisted behind his back by Downpour-severely dislocated._

_Fault Line pushed open the heavy door and grabbed Lightning, throwing him bodily into the room; throwing him to the wolves. The sound hit him like a deafening blast, shouts and screams of fury echoing in his ears. He collapsed to his knees, his hands slapping against the cold concrete with a muffled crack. Lifting his woozy head, he gazed through blurry eyes at the room he was in._

_It seemed to be something like a courtroom. The aisle he had been thrown down was one of four that led to an unfilled space, bar a single chair, in the centre of the room. Either side of each aisle was filled by rows and rows of pews, which themselves were filled with S-7 workers, from lowly, confused Plankton right up to regal, betrayed Elite's. They screamed at each other, arms flying as the heckled all and one, and they screamed at him, fury, betrayal and confusion piercing the air as they tried to figure out how their top Elite had betrayed them all. Familiar hands picked him up and threw his dislocated arm around their shoulders'. Sam peered through his concussion at the impassive face of Seymour Simmons, as he helped him to his feet, half-carrying, half-dragging him over to the chair, pushing him into it and securing earlier unseen cuffs around his wrists._

" _You better have a good reason for all of this, Kid, because you'll be impossibly lucky if you can walk away."_

_Sam didn't reply, merely dropping his head to his chest._

" _Agent Lightning."_

_Sam jerked his head up. Directly infront and slightly above him was what seemed to a panel of judges, a mixture of Alpha's and Elite's, who gazed down at him with expressions filled with cold fury..._

* * *

He pulled himself up, balancing on unstable legs and limped over to his door. He leaned on it heavily, twisting the handle.

Locked.

Rage clouded his vision. He slammed himself against the unyielding door with a horse cry, firmly ignoring the shooting pain dancing through his body with each impact. He sank to his knees, gasping, forehead resting against the soothingly cool metal and one arm wrapped protectively around cracked and possibly broken ribs...

* * *

" _You are charged with the heinous crime of betraying our faith." Tom Banchek's razor voice cut straight through Sam, no familiarity visible whatsoever. "You not only smuggled seven NBT's out of Sector Seven Headquarters, and helped your partner destroy highly expensive, irreplaceable equipment, you also helped your partner-in-crime escape by providing a distraction while he purged most of our system and went AWOL. How do you plead?"_

_Sam's eyes darted from agent to agent, before landing on his once-uncle once more. Rising his chin arrogantly, he smirked coldly and, as coherent as he could possibly be, answered._

" _Guilty, and proud of it."_

_He grinned as the courtroom was thrown into chaos once more..._

* * *

He pulled himself to his feet and stumbled over and into his tiny en-suit. Running some lukewarm water, he dipped in a tattered old cloth and then gently started the long task of cleaning the scrapes on his face...

* * *

" _Do you have any reason for the crimes you have committed?" an Elite called out, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the bronze rail that held the judging panel from launching themselves at the traitor._

" _Yes." Sam gave a single word answer, further amplifying the courtroom's ire._

" _Do you wish to share with the court?" Aqua spat each word out through gritted teeth, looking like she would like nothing more than to strangle the semi-conscious almost fourteen year old._

" _You're all a bunch of hypocritical murderers who torture children"_

_Silence blanketed the room, before it was torn be the incredulous laughter of a disbelieving Alpha._

" _What is this you're speaking of, traitor? What murders have we committed, what children have we tortured? You must have taken too many blows to the head, kid." the man finished with a laugh that was echoed by most of the room._

" _With all due respect,_ sir," _Sam spoke again, his blue eyes were blazing in obvious anger, and his voice dripping with venomous poison, his tone implying he felt anything but respect, "The NBT's that were created in this dam were living, sentient beings. They were forced to be shocked with the Cube's energy, which would have been torturous to endure. They NBT's were also child-versions of the NBE's. Ergo, you are all part of a group that tortured and murdered children."_

_Silence clogged the room once more, as each personal tired to take in what had just been said._

" _I think I must concur with Mr_ _Riley. You seem to be confused, agent." Director Banchek studied Sam with cold eyes, his face hiding his emotions as much as an Elite's mask did._

" _I'm not confused!" Sam spat back, sneering at the onlookers. "If you had studied the mannerisms of the NBT's, you would know this!"_

" _I assure, agent Lightning, that we have done extensive research."_

" _Well, oh mighty director, if you did the so called, '_ extensive research' _, then you would have_ known _that the NBT's were-"_

_A sudden, horrifying revelation mushroomed in Sam's mind. It was one thing for the others to do such thing to children, if they were unaware, but if they_ knew...

" _You...you knew." Sam's voice was flat and filled with disbelief, as if even he could not believe what he had just said._

" _Excuse me?"_

_It was the director's tone that did it. It was equally amused and confused, but with a very small hint of panic. The implications hit Sam like a wrecking ball, knocking the wind from out of his chest. They knew. All this time, the man with whom he shared blood with knew that they were hurting innocent children, but his hate for all things 'alien' blinded him. In that second, the fourteen year old knew that the man he had once called uncle was gone, replaced by a cold, xenophobic monster. Pure, undiluted horror and fury rose in Sam's stomach, like a bubbling, boiling acid._

" _You knew. You knew they were children, you knew, and you not only covered it up, you ENCOURGED IT!" Sam's fury exploded, his voice staring out a horrified whisper and built into homicidal screaming, his vision gaining a dangerous red tint, images of Digi's injuries and the other Sparkling's cries of fear flashing across his eyes and roaring in his ears. He launched himself forward, struggling with the chains that encircled him._

" _Agent Lightning, I have no idea what you are referring too-"_

" _-MURDERER!" Sam continued to scream curses at the judging panel, shocking one and all at the obvious breach of Elite Tradition, by letting his emotions get the better of him._

" _-therefore, without any further ado, I pass your punishment. You are to be confined-"_

" _-BASTARD! YOU FUCKING-"_

" _-TO YOUR room at all times, and when you are allowed out, you will be escorted by no less than two Elites, for the period of ten years. Any attempt to-"_

" _-CHILDREN! INNOCENT CHILDREN! I HOPE TO FRAGGIN PRIMUS THAT THE 'BOTS AND 'CONS FIND YOU AND_ TEAR _YOU TO SLAGGING_ PIECES _-!_

" _-LEAVE HEADQUARTERS OR CONTACT THE OUTSIDE WORLD, will end in your swift death, is that understood, agent Lightning?"_

" _!" Sam continued to let a stream of profanities pour from his mouth, even shocking some of the more expressionless Elites._

" _Agent Simmons, silence him!" Banchek's temper finally snapped as he gestured to Simmons with a sharp hand movement. Simmons rose from his own chair with a small, taser-like object in his hands. Coming up behind Sam's chair, he jabbed the thing into the side of the neck, causing Sam to immediately fall silent. He opened and shut his mouth, his eyes widening when no sound emerged. Snapping his head around, he glared at Simmons with accusing eyes._

" _Calm down kid, it relaxes your vocal chords for a few minutes, not permanently, unfortunately." Simmons whispered to him, barely moving his lips, seeming ignorant to Sam's murderous gaze._

" _Agent Lightning, your sentence had been passed. As stated earlier, any breach will lead to your immediate dismissal from rank of Elite and, if the severity is considerable, your permanent silencing."_

" _Director, isn't that a tad extreme? He is only a teenager, he can learn, he has the promise of being just as successful as you." It was Simmons who surprisingly jumped in, pleading for the teen's case._

" _No, agent Simmons. He has already unleashed seven NBT's onto to unsuspecting public. The only way we can keep the people of earth safe to this alien threat is through total anonymity. Even the smallest breach could lead to our downfall. However, I do agree with you concerning your second point. The boy_ is _highly talented and, if his sentence is fulfilled with no breach, he will be trained as possible director."_

" _I-I-"_

_Sam's raspy voice drew the eyes of the room on him. His own were on the floor, his chin to his heaving chest. He lifted his head slowly, his burning eyes meeting that of the man's' he once called uncle._

" _I...will..._ **NEVER** _...be...like...you."_

_Banchek kept his eyes locked with the injured Elite and flicked his hand. At once, two Alphas rose up from either side of him and made their way down to the exhausted Elite. The unbound him and threw one arm over each of their shoulders, lifting him so his toes just scrapped the floor. Three Elite's followed and stood guard at the other unprotected sides of the boy. Sam's eyes never left his uncle, defiance and disgust burning a hole in Toms' forehead. As Sam was dragged out of the room, Tom finished with a statement that sent chills down Sam's trembling, adrenalin-pumped frame._

" _We'll see."_

* * *

**Six Months Later...**

Sam's life quickly descended into hell. He was being watched 24/7, unable to leave his room without an armed escort. When he wasn't locked in his room, he was forced to train with Fault line in one of the camera-less training gyms. Well, train is too kind a word. He more often than not was forced to spend the night in the Med-Bay after a session, as he was normally unable to fight back against the other Elite, due to being injured by his own 'guards', leaving him open to any attack.

About two months in, Sam hit rock bottom when he realised that that was it. This is how he was going to live the rest of his life. The next ten years would go on like this, then he would be forced in charge and made do exactly what his uncle had when he was director. He had no way out and no way to contact the outside. He was completely and utterly trapped. He quickly sunk into a deep depression and turned to a shady Plankton who supplied him weekly hits of a cocktail of drugs and needles that would blur the truth to him. He even considered just hoarding the drugs and swallowing them all at once as an easy way to end it all, the possibility of seeing his parents again taunting him at every turn. The only reason he hadn't was via Ally's frequent visits, which helped him keep his sanity. Which was a good thing, considering what would have happened if he had gave up back then...

* * *

The Others looked at the bonds surrounding their champion once more, faces impassive as they watched even more of the orange and green fade, while the red crept outwards, infecting more and more bonds. Her brother turned away, his back to the tainted image and released a shuddering breath.

"Stop it sister. You only stricken yourself when you look."

She ignored him, tracing the now long dead bonds with a feather-light touch, as though it would rejoin them...

* * *

"Get a move on!" The newly instated Elite shoved Lightning forward, his push as harsh as his voice. Lightning stumbled and shot a blazing glower through the eye-slots on his mask at the cocky Elite, his arms tightly handcuffed behind his back, making him off-balanced. Two Elite's frogmarched him down the cool corridor, the newbie Elite close to his right and Thunder to his left, both seeming disgusted with the arrangement. They led him past a familiar bank-vault style door and down a sharp right, down a new corridor that had recently been added on, which was filled with empty labs. As they rounded the corner, a bone chilling, hair-raising scream echoed down the corridor, causing all three Elite's to pause mid-step.

"What the-"Lightning started, only to be cut off with a sharp slap to the back of the head.

"Keep moving" Thunder growled, increasing his speed, making Lightning copy. They sped past lab after lab and as they drew near the fork at the end of the corridor, the wailing only got louder and sadly, more familiar to Lightning.

It was a child's scream, about seven or eight, with a familiar mechanical tone to it. As they passed the last lab, the one where the scream originated, he finally saw what was making them and what it was saying.

It was another NBT, thought this one seemed larger, about the height of Sam's mid-section. Unlike the other Sparkling's, it seemed to be made of pure silver, but the shone oddly, as if it was from another world.

Fury flared through Lightning at the sight, his hands clenching into fists.  _How did they create another NBT! The Box is gone! How?_

What confused him most was what the youngling was saying.

" _Stop Stop Stop! Leave me alone! I want to go home! That hurts! Stop it! I WANT MY CREATOR!"_

_...What?_

That didn't make any sense! If it was an NBT, it couldn't have a creator! That was the-

"He said 'Keep Moving'!", the newbie spat, shoving Lightning hard to make up for the gap between him and the impatient Thunder.

As they moved further and further away from the door, instead of the cries softening, they seemed to grow louder and more panic-filled. Though his eyes seemed blank behind his mask, Lightning was having as massive internal war against himself.

"I should keep walking." He muttered, his voice too low for the other Elites to hear.

_It's only a child!_

"One more breach and I'm dead."

_Is that youngling's life worth less than your own?_

"I'm no use to anyone dead."

_If you ignore it, its energon will stain your hands just as much as those scientists_

Lightning rolled his eyes skyward and released a frustrated breath.

"Oh, I am  _so_  going to get shot"

The three Elite's walked a little further down the hallway, with Lightning counting in his head the whole time.

_Three..._

_Two..._

_One..._

Lightning paused and jumped, bringing his knees right up to his chest and swinging his arms under his body and up to his chest-level.

"Wait, what are you-"

_Crunch_

Lightning's left elbow smashed into Thunder's nose, sending a spray of scarlet and dropping him to the ground in shock. The rouge Elite then turned and head butted the newbie, making him stumble into the wall. In a panic, the newbie raised his PADD to his mouth to sound an alert, only to be slammed against the wall again by Lightning's flying kick and dropping to the ground, after which Lightning slammed his foot down on the battered man's wrist, shattering the PADD and breaking the bone, causing the Newbie to cry out.

His victory was short-lived, however, when a pair of crushing arms enclosed his chest, making it impossible to breathe. Fighting off the black splodges swimming past his eyes, Lightning snapped his head backwards, causing it to collide with Thunder's forehead, dazing him and slackening his grip. Wrenching himself from the weakened grasp, Lightning spun around and wrapped his still handcuffed hands around the Elite's throat, using the momentum to slam his head against the nearest wall and throwing him into unconsciousness. Moving fast, Lightning's hand flashed out, into the pocket on Thunder's shin, pulled out a taser and jabbed it into the still stunned newbie, causing him to follow the other Elite into nothingness.

Crouching down, Lightning ignored his injuries as he riffled through the downed Elite's pockets, grinning when he came across a small, inconspicuous metal key. Twisting his wrist, he released them from the metal clasp, rubbing his wrists to shake off the prickling, before raiding the Elites for workable weapons, grinning in delight at the appearance of his PADD, and then dashing down the corridor towards the still weeping NBT.

He burst into the lab and pointed the handgun to the heavens, releasing one single shot that froze all work in the lab. The scientists spun around quickly, forming a wall of white lab coats around the sniffling NBT, hands in the air and eyes like panicked deer's.

Lightning levelled the handgun at the one in charge, a Dr. Liggett, with whom he had conversed with several times.

"Move out of the way." Lightning kept his voice flat and eyes dead, staring down the slightly shaking scientist.

"Lightning, come on, son. Put down the gun." Liggett spoke to him like you would with a spooked animal, keeping his own voice low. "You know you can't do this. You'll be silenced before you make it out the door. Put down the gun, and we can pretend this never happened."

The problem was, with Lightning's youth, was people forgot just what he was. An Elite. Better trained and more secretive than the Secret Service. A trained assassin.

Therefore, they were always surprised when he did something like this:

"No."

_Bang_

Liggett dropped to his knees in shock, his hand grasping his bleeding shoulder, peering up at Lighting with shocked eyes.

"That was me asking politely. Now,  _move!"_  he barked, eyes flashing.

He scientists dove out of the way, revealing a large cage hidden behind them. Slipping the gun back into the stolen holster, Lightning moved towards the cage and the curled up, shaking, NBT. With an action he would later define as a 'random impulse', Lightning's hand shot out to the Geiger counter, that lay abandoned on the table beside the cage and ran the wand over the form of the NBT, not expecting anything to show up.

What did made him drop the thing in shock.

The counter screamed, its needle jumping up to 14 Rads instantly.

He leapt back from the cage, before turning to Liggett, murder clear in his eyes.

"This isn't an NBT, is it? This youngling is an NB _E!"_  His voice dripped with ice-cold venom, but no louder than a whisper, causing most of the lab rats to shiver. Liggett could only nod shakily, his face drained.

"You fucking moron."

"Ex-Excuse me?" Liggett question incredulously with his eyebrows at his hairline, wincing as Dr Eloisa blocked the copper flowing from his shoulder with her perfectly manicured nails.

"You took a youngling, a  _child_  from an NBE. You've held it down here for, how long?" Lightning shot at one of the cowering lab rats, his clenched fists shaking with the suppressed urge to attack.

"Th-thirteen days, sir." He managed to stammer out, flinching at Lightning's cold, scathing laugh.

"Thirteen? Okay, you held it's youngling down here for thirteen days,  _tortured_  it for thirteen days and you honestly don't see the danger you're in?"

"What danger?" Liggett asked carefully, a flash of fear fleeting through his eyes.

"A child is considered one of the most precious things to a cyber- a NBE. You've taken it, which means it mother, father, parent, caretaker, creator, whatever you want to call it, is coming after you right now. It will  _tear_ this place apart looking for it and nothing, I repeat,  _nothing_  will subdue it until it knows its child is safe. So well done Liggett, you just signed your own and everybody else in this building's death warrant." Lightning snarled at the scientist, voice scathing and cold. Spinning on his heel, as if he could no longer bear the sight of him-which was most likely true- Lightning turned to the terrified Youngling and opened the cage, gazing into the child's terrified eyes.

" _Hello there"_ Sam soothed in Cybertronian, cutting off the gasps of the scientists with a sharp hand gesture. " _My name's Sam, what's yours?"_

The youngling gazed at Sam with shocked optics before answering, stuttering over every few letters.

" _F-F-Frenzy_.  _Y-you s-speak cyber-cyber- cy, m-my w-words?"_

" _Yes Frenzy, I do. Now, I'm going to get you out of here and take you to your creator, okay?"_

" _P-p-please. F-f-frenzy w-wants h-h-his cr-cr-crea-t-tor"_

Moving slowly, Sam reached into the cage and lifted Frenzy out, cradling the shivering youngling in his arms, who buried his head in Sam's neck, before turning back to the scientists.

"Where is the NBE?" Lighting demanded, no time for argument in his tone,

"Topside. That's why you were being moved."

Cursing, Lightning nodded before sprinting out the door without any further command and disappeared around the corner.

* * *

He sprinted down the winding corridors, letting off warning shots to all who got in his way, leaping over benches and diving under the outstretched legs of those who didn't have the sense to  _FUCKING MOVE OUT OF_  his  _FUCKING WAY NOW!_  He kept running, only coming to a stop outside a storage unit he knew so well. Fishing Thunder's key card out of his back pocket, he swiped it and disappeared into the darkened room...

"He was last spotted in here sir!" Aqua called to Banchek, standing outside the storage unit.

"Okay, on the count of three," He called to his group of Chief's, acting as security back up. "One...two...th- what was that?"

Tom cut himself off at the noise drifting from the door and leaned forward, leaping back when the unmistakable sound of an engine revved.

"GET BACK FROM THE DOOR!" He screamed, just as the silver blur of his rouge Elite, with his kidnapped NBE on his back, shot out of the door on his now top-Elite Fault Line's motorbike with a carefree whoop.

* * *

Lightning couldn't, nor did he want to stop the smile spreading across his face as he sped do the now rapidly clearing corridors, the artificial wind tousling his hair. Frenzy clung to his back tightly, his head buried in Sam's shoulder, refusing to look up at the vague impressions of objects as they fleeted by them. Lifting his head up for a second, his optics brightened as they locked with the spot Sam was heading towards.

" _S-S-Sam?"_

" _Yeah."_

" _T-that door i-is l-l-lo- closed."_

" _Yeah."_

" _Y-You a-aren't s-s-slow-i-ing down."_

" _Yeah."_

" _W-We're g-going t-t-to cr-cra-ash!"_

" _Nah"_

Frenzy buried his head into Sam's shoulder again, sending a prayer to Primus that he would see his creator again...

* * *

Sam twisted the throttle as he neared the end of the corridor, approaching the locked double-door with gaining speed,

_Come on!_  He prayed, teeth nibbling his lip.  _Please be on time...!_

The door grew closer, Frenzy tightened his grip, Sam braced himself...

For nothing, as the door was thrown open by Seymour Simmons, seeming out of breath. There was a second of deliberation, then he held the door open for the boy on the bike.

" _YES!"_ Sam crowed, shooting through the door and into the blinding sunlight, giving his saviour a fist pump in thanks.

The bike tore across the yard, towards the sounds of gunfire, human screaming and furious Cybertronian. Keeping his head down, he shot towards the group of human Elites who had given up on assault and were just trying to keep themselves from being either squished or vaporized by the homicidal NBE.

As he slowed to a stop, he found himself staring down the barrel of a white-hot plasma cannon and barely had time to jerk the bike out of the way, before a smoking crater in the asphalt appeared where he had been seconds earlier. The cannon whirled once more, before abruptly dying, and a choked voice called out,

" _Frenzy?"_

" _Creator!"_  Frenzy cried happily at the sight of his creator.

Sam climbed off the bike and slowly, keeping his movements easily seen by the mech infront of him, reached around and lifted Frenzy off his back and held him out towards the mech, trying not to flinch away from the familiar, but not the same, blood red eyes that haunted his dreams.

_Mommy! Wake up mommy! Daddy, please get up! I want mommy and daddy, Sophie!_

He was snapped out of his memories by a large metal hand swopping down and, infinitely softly, snapping Frenzy out of his outstretched arms. The mech held Frenzy close to his faceplate and crooned softly him, a mixture of soothing sounds and Cybertronian, his optics scanning his youngling for injuries and growling deep in his throat when he found one. The crimson eyes locked on Sam once more, who slowly got onto his knees and lifted his arms above his head in a sign of surrender.

" _The pathetic fleshling thinks he can save himself by returning you?"_  The mech snarled to Frenzy, unaware Sam could understand every word.

" _N-no Creator! H-he shot the ones who h-h-h-hurt me! He saved me!"_  Frenzy corrected him, shaking his head madly to dissolve any belief that Sam's intentions were anything but pure.

" _Hmmm, a fleshling that hurts its own to save one of another race. Interesting."_

Frenzy opened his mouth to tell his creator about Sam's ability to speak their language when his optics locked with Sam's, who gave a subtle headshake. Frenzy didn't understand why Sam didn't want his creator to know he could understand him, but kept silent anyway.

" _Very well."_ His creator continued,  _"as he saved you, I am in his debt and thus, will let him live. But if we meet again, I hold no such promise."_

Frenzy merely nodded, curling into his creator's palm and waving goodbye to Sam as he disappeared out of sight and into his carrying-hold in his creator chest.

The mech continued to stare down at Sam, before transforming fluidly and racing off into the scorching Nevada desert, leaving a trail of dust behind him.

_Hmmm,_  Sam wondered as he continued to gaze at the fading dot in the distance,  _Where did he find a cop car with 'to punish and enslave' to scan for his alt?_

Of course, he was jolted out of his wondering by a furious cry.

" _ **LIGHTNING**_!"

Lightning lurched to his feet and spun round, only to be faced with what looked like well over a hundred Elites, Alphas and Chiefs staring at him with expressions ranging from confused, to shocked, to angry, to furious and finally, right up to homicidal.

"You have broken your terms of sentencing to the highest form. Not only did you smuggle yet  _another_  NB from our halls, you tampered with the capture of a NBE, therefore aided its escape. Therefore, we have no choice but to silence you permanently."

Lightning's eyes widened as he stumbled back from the furious mob that was slowly creeping closer to him, backing up until his back hit the bike. Glancing around, his eyes locked on a far off object and a ridiculous, insane, possibly suicidal idea bloomed in his mind. Acting quickly, he swung one leg over the bike and kicked off, body almost flat against the machine as he shot towards the crowd like a fast-paced javelin, scattering them like rabbits. Deaf to the shouts, he hurled towards the large generator that claimed a 100,000 Voltage and the large silo of oil beside it. Pulling his gun from his belt, he mentally ran through several complex physics-related equations in his head; his timing having to be  _perfect_.

Five...

Four...

Three...

Two...

One...

_Bang Bang!_

He fired off two shots, the first hitting the silo of oil, sending a fountain of oil directly over his head, while the other hit the generator, releasing a spark that landed on the rapidly growing patch of oil, igniting it. The small flame travelled across the patch and directly to the source. Within seconds the silo collapsed, sending burning oil cascading down onto the generator, which sent out a huge explosion of flaming oil, blazing metal and immense heat. This knocked the mob backwards as a serpent of flames erupted upright, its jaws opened wide and tongue tasting the sun, before collapsing back down again, showering the unfortunate bystanders below with chunks of razed and burning metal.

Sirens pierced the air as S-7's own Search and Rescue Service exploded out from the underground hanger, trying to control the blaze, while others ran to help those who were injured. The watchers got to their feet, mouths opened in horror at what had just happened. Simmons made his way up to where Tom stood, his glasses hiding his eyes as he took in the devastation his once-nephew caused, and clasped him on the shoulder. "There's no way he survived that." He whispered softly in his ear, his voice heavy with regret. Tom could only nod, unable to tear his eyes away from the spot he had last saw him. "It's okay to grieve, he was still your nephew-"

"-he was an Elite who had the promise to make history. Nothing more. Understood, Simmons?" The director cut him off, his voice emotionless. Simmons froze for a moment, before releasing a gutsy breath and unclasping his shoulder with a heavy nod. The two continued to stare at the still billowing flames and, for a few seconds, mourned the bright-eyed, copper headed, giggling six year old.

* * *

**With Sam...**

He ducked under the spray of oil and gunned it, his tires leaving a line of black and the smell of burning rubber behind him as he peeled away, the wind blinding him from his speed, only just absconding the explosion of flames behind him, the back of his neck just escaping becoming scorched. Eyes narrowed, he kept on his path and, at the last moment, gave an impossibly sharp turn to the right, dropping the bike to the ground and skidding under the barrier sealing of the dam. With a twist of his foot and handlebars in a way that defied the laws of gravity, he manoeuvred a trick that brought the bike upright and twisted the throttle, sending the bike flying down the road without breaking stride.

He was fifty kilometres away from the dam before he stopped the bike, straightened up, and laughed. He laughed so hard his chest burned and his vision wavered, but none of that mattered, because he was alive and  _free_!

It was a long time before he found himself able to stop, bring his retrieved PADD to his lips and call,

"Agent Blaze, this is Agent Lightning calling it. Lightning has escaped the storm, I repeat, Lightning has escaped the storm. Possible rendezvous with pre-arranged point A-OK?"

All Lightning got back was the sound of his brothers mixture of hysterical laughter and crying.

Grinning, he keyed the ignition and took off once more, leaving his past in the dust.

* * *

Turning around, she caught a glimpse of the champion's network of bonds, before moving away once more, unable to look any longer, when something caught her eye. Peering down, somehow, nine frail, tiny, hidden blue bonds connected their champion to nine others proudly. Moving forward, her eyes wide, she moved, as if to touch them, when a blinding flash obscured her vision, causing her to throw up an arm to protect her eyes. When she lowered her arm, the sight before made her world slide out of focus and tilt.

"bro-brothers. Brothers. BROTHERS!  **BROTHERS!** _BROTHERS_!"She screamed, tears streaming down her face as she collapsed to her knees sobbing. Her brothers raced in, wrapping their arms around her trembling form. "What is it sister?" Her eldest brother cried, clearly panicked at her loss of control. "What ails you?" Her youngest brother knelt down and gazed into her sobbing face, forehead furrowed.

"Look!  _LOOK!"_  She cried, a trembling arm pointing at the champions network. As the elders slowly turned, the youngest called out in astonishment, "She is not ailed, brother. She-She... She is  _smiling!"_  Snapping his head around he turned to see what had put his sister to happy hysterics and struck his brothers dumb, his words dying in his throat as he drank in the image before him.

Most of the vivid, angry red lines chocking their champion receded backwards, as if terrified. Orange bonds weaved through the air, many of the original ones turning green, connecting their champion to a huge support group of friends. The once consumed blue exploded out, twice, thrice, maybe ever four times as many as had originally been planed, a family gathering around the champion.

But what shocked them most of all, was a single, gleaming, golden bond that shone with love.

"But-but that is a-a-"The second eldest stuttered unable to get past his shock, so the third eldest answered for him.

"A  _soul_  bond." He finished, amazement rolling off his tongue. The eldest shook his head slowly in disbelief. "But that is only possible when-"

"Well, it seems the future is much more interesting than we originally predicted." The youngest breathed. "Do you see whom it's connected too?" he traced the bond with a single finger, leading up to the other half.

" _By thy Gods!"_ The siblings whispered together, as they realised just who their champions' other half was, and in that second, things that were once forgotten slipped into place.

The youngest turned, his face pale and shocked. "They returned. They all returned once more."

The eldest tore his eyes from the network of bonds that seemed to be bursting with joy and met the eyes of his three younger brothers and younger sister.

"It has been restored. Our children will live and be free."

The simple statement finally let the Others see just what implications the return of the bonds held, and, unable to stop themselves, smiles danced across their faces, tears of joy slipped from their eyes and they met in a giant hug, one of which they hadn't done since when they were first formed, and, for the first time in eons, allowed themselves to feel joy once more.

* * *

He jumped down from the tree at the rendezvous when the sound of a finely tuned engine met his years. A gleaming silver bike skidded to a stop and a figure slipped off it. His back was to the dying red sun, casting his face in shadow. Miles stopped, squinting.

"S-Sam?"

The figure walked towards him softly, his feet making no sound against the dried grass, until he was practically a foot away from Miles, finally allowing him to see his brother clearly. He has lost weight, that much was obvious, from his slightly-baggier clothes and slightly more prominent cheekbones. His hair had lengthened slightly, so the copper hair just brushed past his chin by less than an inch. He was also paler than usual, emphasizing the dark shadows under his electrical eyes. Finally, he was cover in scrapes, bruises and deep marks that made Miles' blood boil. They stared for a moment, before simultaneously reaching out and pulling eachother into a much-needed hug, to reassure themselves that their brother was indeed alive and in once piece.

After a few minutes, Miles leaned back and held Sam at arm's-length, and, with a grin, exclaimed,

"Well Sam, welcome back to Tranquillity!"


	8. History Lesson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drop a stone in a river and ripples will appear. However, the current will not change and the river will still follow the path marked for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, some dialogue from the movie here, but even that I have broke up a good bit, though anything recognisable, I. Do. Not. Own.  
> Also wow, sorry it's took me so long to update! To be honest I completely forgot I had this story on here and I'll try to get all the chapters up as soon as possible!

" _-and then, we head to Tranquillity." The thirteen-and-a-half year old Sam tilted his chair, rocking on the back legs and locked his hands behind his head, grinning wildly at Miles. The blonde haired boy sprawled in his chair; his arms crossed across his chest, pushing out his bottom lip and nodding thoughtfully, his eyes a million miles away._

" _Yeah," he drawled slowly, "that could work. Just one tiny thing…"_

" _Hmm?"_

_Miles' chair slammed its front legs flat on the ground with a crash as he shot forward, palms slamming down on the shiny metal table._

" _ **ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE**_ _?"_

" _No, my uncle had me tested." his companion shot back, referring to the extensive_ _psyche-tests both boys were submitted to before entering their training and still had annually, a single_ _eyebrow raised patronizingly as his eyes twinkled in humour._

" _Oh very witty!" Miles snarked back, fingers itching to shake some sense into his apparently brain dead brother. "_ _For the fear that_ _you have forgotten, we were both born and raised in Tranquillity. You have a house there, now that the she-witch has moved back to Nevada, and it is the_ most _obvious place for us to go! It is the first place they would look!"_

" _Exactly."_

_Sighing, and fearing for his brother's mental health, Miles sank back into his chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose wearily and wondering just how he seemed to have a knack for getting himself into these situations. Sam merely grinned and leaned forward in his seat, eyes twinkling, rubbing his hands together eagerly._

" _Look, Tranquillity is the first place they would expect us to go, right?"_

" _Yes". A deep sigh._

" _But I know my unc- the Director." The room grew cold and tense for a moment after Sam's slip up, until he shrugged and pushed on, his voice slightly strained,_

"He'll _know that_ we _'_ d _know that they would expect that and would immediately rule Tranquillity out, so he would search anywhere_ but  _Tranquillity, as there would be no-way we'd go anywhere so obvious. But_ we _know, that_ he'll _look anywhere_ but _Tranquillity, so Tranquillity is the safest place to go, because it will_ never _be searched! Got it?"_

_Miles nodded, a half-smile playing on his lips. "Yeah, I got."_

" _Really?"_

" _Yeah, you spend too much time watching re-runs of_ FRIENDS. _" He smirked at Sam's suddenly dusty-pink cheeks and merely laughed when he flipped him off…_

* * *

_**June fourteenth, 2007, two years and nine months later...** _

"Okay, Mr. Willicky, you're up!"

There was a beat of silence as most of the class turned to stare at the back row, waiting for the boy to stand. The hooded youth continued to gaze out of the window, only snapping out of his day-dream by an elbow to the gut from his best friend. Sighing, he pulled the earphones from his ears and gathered his battered rucksack, looping his way to the front of the classroom and pulling down his hood, flashing a smile that made most of the girls (and a few of the boys) sigh dreamily, excluding the shaggy blonde Adonis in the back row, who merely rolled his eyes at his brother's antics.

* * *

When the fourteen year old Samuel Witwicky and Miles Lancaster had both moved back into the Witwicky family home, -which had stood empty ever since young Sammy had moved away- it had caused quite the stir among the neighbours, especially with the injuries they both had, more particularly Samuel. When they were questioned about why they were living alone, the boys simply replied 'Family Problems'. At first, many had believed the two were,  _together_ , only for that to be destroyed when both boys were seen being  _very_  friendly with other males more than once. While the two had been small, even going as far as 'malnourished', when the boys hit sixteen, all eyes were on them. Miles was the modern Adonis, with longish blonde hair, sky-blue eyes and an easy grin. He was able to make humour in the most awkward ofsituations and was generally a very charismatic person, able to talk someone into or out of anything with such skill that many of the teachers whispered that he had been trained in the art of 'Bullshitting'.

Sam was Miles' opposite. He was still the smaller of the two, but he was wiry, a lot of power remaining hidden. His copper hair seemed to catch the light, giving it an almost metallic sheen and always falling into his electrical sapphire eyes, which gave an intense gaze that seemed to not only look at a person, but  _see_  them, going deep past all the shields and petty images they held up, right into their very soul. He rarely  _truly_  smiled, but when he did, he seemed to light up, making 'Make Sam Smile' shoot to most of his admirers '10 Things to do Before Graduating' list. He was quiet, but with a sharp sarcastic wit that would leave all who heard it breathless with laughter. Something even fewer had seen was his heart of gold, one he kept hidden from the majority of the student body, only coming out to help an injured kindergartener or when he took the once shy, mousy pre-teen Mikeala Banes and stood by her, helping her gain the confidence to become the confident, stunning young woman she had grow to be.

However, there was an undeniably edge both boys carried. Their eyes were old, as if they had seen much violence in the world, and they held themselves in a way that could only be described as suspicious, as if nothing and no-one but eachother could be trusted. None of their classmates failed to notice the boys' reactions when something unexpected would happen, be it a sudden shout or a small explosion in the chem. lab. They didn't fail to see how Miles would reach towards his back pocket, or how Sam would let his hand drift over his right hip, as if they were reaching for something that was no longer there.

Of course, another major give away was their scars. Miles had once that curved around his right arm and one that slithered across his lower back, both looking old, but only by a year or so, and several pale white ones that only appeared under certain lighting. Sam had more, like the one that caught the corner of his left eye and curved across his cheek, under his chin, across his throat and disappeared over his collar bone. Another tore across his lower belly, as if he had been slashed. Finally, several thin, pale lines littered his forearms, looking far too precise to be done by anyone other than someone who was practiced with a blade. Added with the mess they had left behind when Trent's gang had tried to jump them,  _and the fact they had been holding back and barely breathless while Trent and his goons lay comatose on the ground_ , the rumour was that their families had become drug lords and the two boys fled, only making it away in the nick of time. For the hormonal teenagers who studied with them every day, the two boys oozed danger and sexuality and, hey, even though they all knew they would only get their fingers burned, who doesn't have a secret urge to play with fire?

* * *

Sam spread his stuff out, family heirlooms scuttling across the desk. With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, he set about sorting it out into semi-tidy order and looked up, flicking his hair from his eyes. Glancing up at the captivated class, he started, his smooth voice making all sit up and listen, bar a few jealous Neanderthals.

"Okay, for my Family genealogy report, I-"

Sam heard it before he saw it, the practically soundless  _whoosh_  of a rubber band flying through the air. With a lazy flash of his arm, he snagged the annoyance mid-air and shot it back, hitting the even bigger annoyance straight on the forehead and making him let out a loud yelp.

"Mr deMarco, please quite down!" Mr Gingeotto called, head still buried in his book, ignoring deMarco's spluttering's. Smirking, Sam sent a mock-salute at Trent, grinning at Miles in the back row, who only rolled his eyes and huffed in amusement.

Clearing his throat Sam continued, plastering on a fake smile and started speaking. His voice flowed easily, slipping into the exhausted ears of the students and painting a picture with words in their minds.

"So, for my family genealogy report, I decided to do it on my great-great-grandfather, who was a famous man, Captain Archibald Witwicky. Very famous explorer. In fact, he was one of the first to explore the Arctic Circle, which is kinda a big deal-"

He paused, throwing a wink and a smile out at the class, causing them let out soft trails of laughter, before continuing.

"In 1897, he took 41 brave sailors straight into the Arctic Shelf..."

Sam continued with his story, giving the group of students a slightly more...edited, civilian-friendly story.

Miles could only watch in amusement as Sam had the class eating out of the palm of his hand, completely captivated by the story. ' _And that's not including the 'Aliens from another planet and possibly solar system' bit'_ , he though wryly as Sam held up various 19th centaury sailing equipment.

"-and  _these_  are my grandfather's glasses. There a little out of style, but, hey, maybe I'll be able to pull them off."

He slipped the glasses on and peered at the class from over the top of them, giving them a smile, sharp eyes detecting the flash of a few girls cell-phone's snapping a photo. Laughing, he pulled them off and continued with his story.

"Unfortunately, my great-great-grandfather, the genius that he was, wound up going blind and crazy in a psycho ward, drawing these strange symbols and babbling on about some giant ice man that he thought he'd discovered. But-"

Here, Sam leaned forward and dropped his voice to a whisper, his intense gaze pinning the students, freezing their breaths in their lungs.

"-what if he wasn't crazy?"

For some odd reason, the teens couldn't help a shiver from dancing down their spines, as if they had just been told something important, something that would change their future. The blaring silence cloaked the room, until the shrill bell peeled and the room jumped, nervous laughter sprouting up on all sides. Mr Gingeotto shook his head, as if trying to shake water from his ears, before calling out,

"Okay. Might be a pop quiz tomorrow. Might not. Sleep in fear tonight! Sam?"

Gathering his stuff, Sam turned and walked over to the teacher, arms spread wide.

"Well?"

Mr Gingeotto sighed and removed his glasses, rubbing them on his tie. "As usual, a solid A*, Mr Willicky. You did great." The seventeen year old grinned, giving the teacher a rare glimpse past the sharp exterior and into the young boy hoping for praise, only for a slight crease in his forehead to appear.

"Sir? It's Wi _tw_ icky."

The teacher blinked, then looked over at the register uploaded on the computer, shaking his head in self-exasperation. "Sorry Witwicky, it's this register, even after three years it's still showing you up as Samuel Willicky and Mr Lancaster as a Mr Lance. You really should speak to someone about that."

Sam gave an assuring smile back, stating that he would immediately contact the office about the problems.

Not. He  _was_  the one who had hacked the thing in the first place.

"Thanks sir!" He chirped, before spinning around and almost sprinting for the door, through the maze of corridors and out into the dazzling sunlight. Stretching, he pulled off his black hoodie with 'Good Charlotte' scrawled across it and stuffed it into his bag, making many passersby praise the Goddess of tight white shirts, one of which he wore, which revealed his hidden muscles and showed the world he was built for speed, rather than brawn. Teamed messy hair, sparkling eyes, a pair of dark blue jeans and black Convers covered in white-out'd song lyrics, he seemed the poster boy for 'Ridiculously photogenic'.

Hopping down the steps, he snagged his board from under Miles' arm and pushed off with practiced ease, gliding down the sidewalk as he waited for Miles to weave his way through the crowd of home-goers.

Mile's own black t-shirt was similar to Sam's, only his had 'Linkin Park'- accompanied by their logo- spiking across his, also teamed with dark blue jeans, although his was slightly baggier. Like Miles', Sam had a pair of gleaming metal dog tags around his neck and a simple woven black leather bracelet around his wrist. Unlike Miles, however, Sam has his right ear pieced, both a single diamond stud in the lobe and a simple black helix.

"Where are we heading?" Miles called out as Sam bypassed their usual route home, heading further into town and passed a Porsche dealership, barely pausing for a moment to drool over the gorgeous cars.

"Out to Bobby's, I wanna pick up a fixer!"

The two teens stopped and picked up their boards, heading into the 'used car' lot. Strolling comfortably, Sam raised his hand in greeting to Bobby, who skidded out of the small, run-down office.

"Sparks! Watcha doing here boy, you ain't workin' until tomorrow!" Bobby slapped his hand across Sam's back, grinning down at his part-time mechanic. Sam worked the weekends at Bobby's and was his most prized employee, able to bring a seemingly completely dead vehicle back to life after only a few hours tops, thus giving him the nickname 'Sparks'.

"Nah, I'm just here to get a car 'til fix-up!" Sam replied, striding across the parking lot and gazing down into a few of the idle cars. Bobby grinned at him, switching into 'salesman', ignoring the exasperated Miles who trailed behind.

"Sam, your first enchilada of freedom awaits underneath one of those hoods." Bobby started, flashing his glinting teeth at the distracted teen.

"Let me tell you something, son. A driver don't pick the car. The car'll pick the driver. It's a mystical bond between man and machine-"

"-Bobby, you do realise that I've heard you give this speech a thousand times and know that it's all bullshit?"

"...just go spoil my fun, why don't you son?"

Snorting, both Miles and Sam made their way past the 'petting zoo' and over to a faded yellow Camaro with racing stripes...

* * *

Exhausted and sore, Bumblebee scanned his surroundings, desperate for a place to rest, even for a few moments. He had been driving non-stop for the last three weeks to get as far away as possible from a group of humans in black SUV's, who somehow had weapons dangerous enough to hurt even him, despite having no record of them anywhere on the internet. He barely escaped unscathed and didn't stop driving until he was at least a state away. All he wanted to do now was get somewhere to recharge. The yellow bot nearly cried in relief at the sight of a 'used cars' lot and, with no further ado, pulled in and blended in with the other older cars and drifted into light recharge...

* * *

Wandering over, Miles ran an appraising eye over the only slightly battered Camaro, running his hand across the hood and over the roof.

"This ain't bad." He murmured, scanning over the car. "This one's got racing stripes."

Bobby nodded at Miles, seeming to take a sudden liking to him.

"Yeah! It got racing..." he trailed off, tilting his head to the side and crinkling his forehead.

"Yeah, what's this? What the heck is this? I don't know nothing about this car. Manny!"

"What?" the whingeing call of Bobby's cousin sounded back, clearly sick of being ordered around.

"What is this? This car! Check it out!"

"I don't know, boss! I've never seen it!" The man answered earnestly, "That's loco!"

"Don't go Ricky Ricardo on me, Manny!" Bobby snapped back, clearly disgruntled with the man, before storming over to him. "Find out!"

"Hey Sam, check this-Sam?" Miles called over, only to stop halfway, staring at Sam.

Sam was gazing down at the car in complete wonder, as if nothing else existed in the world. As if that wasn't confusing enough, his eyes were flashing, almost glowing.

" _You came. You found me. They are coming. They are coming."_

Darting to his side, Miles reached out to shake his friend, trying to snap him out of his trance, praying that the glow would subside and Sam would go back to understandable english, as he still had no idea what had just been said.

"Sam! Sam! Snap out of it!"

With a shudder, his whispers in a language that twirled and twisted halted, and the eerie blue glow vanished, though Sam continued to stare down at the innocent Camaro. "Can't you feel it Miles?" he asked, voice not daring to go higher than a whisper.

"What? Feel what?"

"The energy. You know, almost like the ozone before a storm. Can't you feel it?"

"Sam, what are you talking about?" Miles put his hand on Sam's shoulder, his touch sending out a jolt through Sam's body and causing him to shake his head and blink rapidly. "hmm?"

"Nothing. Let's take a look at the car."

Miles studied Sam with worried eyes, memorising his every movement. This wasn't the first time Sam had went into a trance like this, but it wasn't frequent. It had only happened a few other times, and the end result had always been the same, Sam had no idea what Miles was talking about and had no recollection of what he had said or done. So, Miles had stopped talking about it, but noted it down in a hidden journal because, really, who could he talk to about this to?

Sam slid into the driver's seat, hands grasping the wheel, almost melting at the feeling of complete calmness flowing through his every vein and soothing every nerve. His eyes darted around the car, already imagining the improvements in place. He brushed his thumb over the centre of the wheel, forehead crinkling as he gazed down at the face looking mournfully back at him.

_What the?-_

* * *

Bumblebee's systems came online with a sudden jolt, his scanners going insane and codes flashing in front of his optics. Still drowsy, it took him a second to realise that there was a human sitting in him. His headlights blinked once in surprise, the light unseen in the blinding sunlight. Mentally shaking himself, he looked over the data-burst from his scanners to try and figure out what had startled him.

When he found it, he would later swear to Primus that his spark skipped a pulse.

The apparently ordinary human calmly sitting inside him was emitting Allspark energy.

True, it was minute, barely traceable, buried deep in his DNA, undetectable if you weren't looking for it and, unlike Bumblebee, didn't have specialist scanners to find it,  _but it was there_. He froze for a second, before launching into action, his rear-view mirror tilting slightly so it caught the boy's face, almost groaning in frustration when the boy simply wouldn't look at it. _Come on!_  He slightly pleaded,  _Just look up!_. As if responding to the silent plea, the boy did, and for a second, Bumblebee was frozen yet again as he stared into the eyes that were the exact same shade as the Autobot's optics.

He continued to stare at the boy, ignoring the pinging from his scanners. The eyes were the same electrical blue, and, like most of the Autobots, they held a deep sadness, one associated with someone who had lost so much, seen so much and fought so much. Unlike most of them, however, there was a glint in his eyes, one of protectiveness for some unknown people, one that told Bumblebee that, whoever they were, this boy would fight to the death for them. It was one that showed him that this boy has had to shouldered many responsibilities and did it with a raised chin, so someone else wouldn't have to. For a single second, Bumblebee thought he was looking straight into the eyes of Optimus Prime.

Then the boy looked away and Bumblebee found himself able to intake once more. He quickly scanned the results his scanners came up with once more, and, yet again, thought his spark would stop.

_No. Fragging. Way. There is no way I'm that lucky..._

He had took a snapshot of the boys face and ran it through every government record worldwide-and really, why did they have to have so many? What was wrong with just one? It would solve a lot of needless arguments-until he found him. A child genius who already had several degrees from online collage courses and was being practically begged for by almost every university, from Princeton, to Julliard, to Cambridge.

Samuel James Witwicky.

As in, the great-great grandson of Captain Archibald Witwicky, the man who discovered Megatron and whose glasses held the co-ordinates to the location of the Allspark.

And, scanning through a few more photos of the boy in shock, he came across a status on the 'social network' site 'Facebook' uploaded by a XOXO_STACEYBABES_XOXO that read,

 **OHMIGAWD BABEZ, HOW DOES HE LOOK SOOO GUD WERIN TH NERD GLASSZ? HOTTIE CAN PULL OF ANYHIN!** ,

accompanied by a photograph of Samuel winking at the camera, the glasses perched on his nose.

The glasses that he had taken home with him. Which he put in his backpack. Which was sitting less than 100 meters directly in front of Bumblebee.

So lost in thought, Bumblebee didn't notice until the last second that the boy was getting out of him...

* * *

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Sam yelped incredulously from the driver seat. "I'm not going over four grand for this!"

"Then outta the car kid."

Grumbling, Sam did as he was told, swinging open the door and hauling himself out, moving to stand beside Miles and leaned on the still-open door. Bobby moved away, towards a few other run-down cars to his left.

"Now, this one here for four Gs is a beaut-" Sam cut Bobby off with a sharp shake of his head.

"No, I don't want a Fiesta with racing stripes. It's not the racing stripes, if I wanted them, I could do it myself."

Bobby merely continued, deaf to Sam's rebuff.

"This is a classic engine right here. I sold a car the other day-" rolling his eyes, Sam shut the Camero's door, only for the passenger seat one to fly open and slam into the car Bobby was showing off.

"Jesus! Are you okay?" Both Miles and Sam called, running over to Bobby, who merely waved them off with a smile.

"No, no, no. No worries. I'll get a sledgehammer and knock this right out. Hey, hey, Manny!

Get your clown cousin and get some hammers and come bang this stuff out, baby!"

Like a true salesman, Bobby merely dusted himself down and carried on, bringing the still wary boys around to another car.

" _...greater than man..."_

The boys glanced at eachother, ignoring Bobby's speech of, "That one's my favourite, drove all the way from Alabammy-"

"What the-"Miles started, only to be cut off be as shrill, high pitched keen rang out, and the windows of every car exploded, raining sparkling glass around them, setting off the alarm in every car in the lot.

The rouge Elite's dropped to the ground, hands protecting their faces and rolled as far away from the showering glass as possible. With a twist of their ankles, they stood back-to-back, eyes scanning the perimeter, a dagger they had materialized out of nowhere in hand. Bobby rose from the ground slowly, his eyes huge as he took in the damage, nearly popping out of his head when he realised how much it was going to cost him. Glancing around, he found only one car that stood undamaged and for some odd reason, he felt it was to blame. So, in an attempt to save both his business and his money, he shakily held up four fingers to his mechanic and squeaked,

"Four thousand!"

Glancing back at the devil-car, he couldn't help but think it was beaming smugly at him.


	9. Oh God I bought Christine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His car...is an NBE. He bought an NBE. How the hell did he buy a goddamn NBE?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay dokes, italics=Flashback
> 
> :Commlink:
> 
> Cybertronian Ages Vs Human equivalent:  
> Sparkling= 0-5   
> Youngling= 5-13   
> Mechling= 13-17  
> Mech= 17-60  
> Elder= 60+
> 
> Cybertronian Time Vs Earth equivalent
> 
> Breem – 8.3 minutes  
> Joor – 6.5 hours  
> Orn – 13 days  
> Vorn – 83 years  
> Megavorn-3,333 years

Sam stumbled down the stairs, taking them two at a time. Staggering into the kitchen, he absentmindedly scratched Storm's head, the golden Labrador both he and Miles owned, before making his way into the cupboards to pull out a box of cereal, filling a bowl with muesli. Grabbing the remote out of the still half-asleep Miles' grasp, he flipped through the channels, hopping up on the island in the center of the kitchen.

" _ **At this time, we can't confirm whether there were any survivors."**_ The SecDef sighed, looking weary.

Shaking his head, Sam pushed up the volume of the TV, listening intently.

" _ **Our bases worldwide are, as of now, at DEFCON Delta, our highest readiness level. We're dealing with a very effective weapons system that we have not come across before. But our prayers are with the families of the brave men and women..."**_

* * *

_A few days earlier..._

On a cargo plane heading to their base in Qatar, a US Army Ranger Squad was bantering back and forth during the ride.

Jorge "Fig" Figueroa grinned at his squad, practically bouncing in his seat. "Oh, God, five months of this! I can't wait to get a little taste of home! A plate of mama's alligators étouffée!"

US Air Force Tech Sergeant Epps rolled his eyes, turned down 'Highway to Hell' and jabbed a finger at Fig "You've been talking about barbecued 'gators and crickets for the last two weeks! I'm never going to your mama's house, Fig. I promise."

Fig shook his head earnestly, waving his hands wildly, "-But Bobby, Bobby, 'gators are known to have the most succulent meat!"

Nodding patronizingly, Epps replied, "I understand."

Huffing madly, Fig burst into his mother-tongue in some fast-paced, infuriated Spanish.

"English, please. English!" Epps exclaimed, flicking his eyes to the ceiling of the plane.

Captain William Lennox jumped in, rolling his eyes at his brother-in-arms, "I mean, how many times have we-We don't speak Spanish. I told you that."

"Why you got to ruin it for me, man? That's my heritage." Fig whined, pouting at his superior

Huffing, Will smiled in defeat, flicking his hand in a 'whatever' gesture. "Go with the Spanish. Whatever."

First Sergeant Donnelly leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, a gleam of reminiscing in his eyes. "Hey, you guys remember weekends? Huh? The Sox at Fenway. Cold hotdog and a flat beer. Perfect day."

The rest of the squad sighed and nodded in agreement.

"What about you, Captain? You got a perfect day?" Fig called.

Will let a small smile grace his lips as he leaned back, his eyes falling shut, "I just can't wait to hold my baby girl again."

Immediately, a series of "D'awww!"'s and "He's adorable!"'s sprung up around him, led by Epps. Aiming a kick at his subordinate, the captain gave a mock glare at them, but was unable to stop a smile. "Shut up!"

* * *

Will Lennox ducked into the camouflage tent and called over to one of the techie's,

"Is Carol on?"

"Yes, Captain." The techie called out, sharply saluting.

Crouching down in front of the screen, chocolate eyes lit up as he saw both his friend from collage and his baby girl.

"My ladies!" Will cried, smiling at the two.

Carol blew a flick of brown hair from her eyes, smiling at Will. Holding up his daughter, Carol smiled softly at the sheer wonder in his eyes.

"Oh, my goodness. Look at her. She's getting so big. Look at those cheeks; I just wanna chew on them!"

"Jeeze Will, you sure made a good-looking kid. I know that people say that all the time, but, wow, you made one good-looking kid. Nice work."

Will laughed loudly, the corners of his eyes creasing. Shaking her head, Carol added,

"She has your laugh."

Eyes widening in wonder, the captain repeated what Carol had said to him disbelievingly.

"She laughed?"

"Her first one, yeah."

"...You sure she didn't just fart?"

"No, she's a lady!"

The two laughed, Will even more so when Annabelle giggled and hit her hands against her chubby thighs. Slowly, the laughter faded and Will's eyes grew serious, but still didn't move them from Annabelle.

"No news from Sarah?"

Dropping her head, she shook it sadly. "No, sorry Will."

Will nodded, looking almost disappointed in himself. "Yeah, I just thought-ah, never mind..."

* * *

_Will jolted up out of bed, the excessive ringing of his doorbell yanking him from sleep. Dressed only in a pair of grey sweatpants with his dog tags resting against his bare chest, he stumbled down the stairs, grabbing his leather jacket and throwing it on as he unlatched the door, blinking in the sudden sunlight._

" _Hello, how can I help-_ Sarah _?"_

_He gaped at the women staring at him. Sarah Miller, his ex-fiancée who had split-up from him over a year ago, as apparently the stress of becoming a military wife was too much for her, was standing on his doorstep, a gym bag slung over her shoulder. And she looked terrible. Her glossy blonde hair was brittle and pulled up into a sloppy ponytail. She looked like she had lost a lot of weight in a very short time and had an almost sickly look. The dark shadows under her eyes and the once smooth brow was creased in a way that make her look haggard. But what shocked him most was the tiny, four-month old baby girl cradled in her arms._

_Will's mouth opened and closed, like a fish, in disbelief as he stared down at the tiny baby girl with a wisp of blonde hair and chocolate eyes. Mouth dry, he spluttered out a few strangled words._

" _Sarah-is that- is she-what-"_

_Biting her lip, Sarah pushed the baby out and into Will's arms, who quickly steadied the baby with his arms, and dropped the gym bag at his feet, her tired eyes filling with tears._

" _She's yours. Her name's Annabelle Maria Lennox. Will, I'm sorry, I can't- I can't look after her."_

" _What? Sarah, what are you-"_

" _I'm not cut out for this! I can't look after her! I can't sleep, I can't eat-Will, I can't be a mother, I just can't!" Sarah blurted it all out, tears spilling from her eyes, hand over her mouth._

" _But, Sarah- I can't-"_

" _Yes you can! You've always wanted children, Will! You'll be a fantastic father, but I can't be a good mother! I don't want to hurt her, so it's better like this."_

" _But-"_

" _I'm sorry."_

_With that, Sarah turned on her heel and fled, practically leaping into the idle car and driving off with a screech, leaving Will to stare blankly at the shrinking back-end of her car, subconsciously rocking the crying baby in his arms..._

* * *

Shaking himself out of the memory, Will smiled at the two, determinedly ignoring Carol's understanding smile. Carol went to speak, only for the sound to warp and the image to fuzz in and out of focus. "Carol? Carol, can you hear me?". Twisting the webcam, he tried again. "Carol, if you can hear me, I'll be home soon!" The image of her and Annabelle froze and disappeared in a flash. Sighing, Will dropped his head and ran his fingers through his hair, before getting up and answering Epps' call.

* * *

**_Present day..._ **

Bumblebee sat idle, waiting for his charge to hurry up as he spoke-no, argued. Breathing evaluated, blood pressure spiking, body language wired tightly- to a much larger male. Sighing almost silently, to pass the time, Bumblebee scanned the internet for those who had attacked him.

Agents in black suits. Several people in dark capes with masks. Weapon systems that could hurt even a Cybertronian. But still, _nothing_  would come up, as if there was no record of them on the internet. Also, when looking for the Allspark and the later locating of the Witwicky bloodline, all records of the youngest heir-Sam- from between the ages of seven and fourteen were locked, covered by so many firewalls, some of which had an almost Decepticon feel to them, that even Bumblebee couldn't hack without a direct line.

It was maddening to be so close to finding the key to his races survival and being able to do nothing! The only reason he even looked up the Witwicky heir was because it seemed to be common human practice for parents to pass on heirlooms to the child, and since the line stopped at Sam, he seemed the yellow scouts best bet. Huffing once more, Bumblebee scanned his surroundings, only to find, once again, the 'other boy' was staring at him.

The blonde was perched halfway up the tree Bumblebee was resting beside, his gaze never wavering as he started down at the disguised bot. Bumblebee wasn't a fool, he knew that the other human knew there was something different about him; he could see it in his eyes. And yet, he said nothing.

Before Bumblebee could muse on it any longer, a low beep sounded, an incoming transmission from outside Saturn.

 **: Bumblebee, report:** Prime's voice echoed down the link, free of any emotion.

**: Under recon ATM, sir. Will send more detailed report within a Joor, I may have the possible co-ordinates of the Cube in my grasp:**

The young mech couldn't stop the feel of smug satisfaction which spread through him at the ringing silence, then explosion of shouts from the command team that echoed down the comm. What would be a smirk on his bi-pedal form was impossible to stop at the knowledge that he had shocked the group of mechs that helped raise him...

* * *

_Optimus gazed out over the smoking ruins of the youth sector, servo's trembling into tight fists. As a larger hand touched his shoulder, he spun round, blade already extended only to be stopped by the arm of a large red-and-white mech beside him._

" _Careful there young one, try not to take out your own men."_

" _I doubt I could ever call you one of 'my men', Ironhide."_

_Ironhide gave a rare smile down at the bot beside him, unable to stop his pride showing._

" _You fought well today."_

_Within clicks, the young Prime's optics had dimmed and his battle-mask snapped back in place. Suddenly, the young Prime who was barely out of his mechling frame looked like a very old mech._

" _Not well enough. How many Sparklings died today? Why is my brother doing this? What can he possibly hope to achieve?"_

_Optimus trailed off, optics dull as he tried to figure out how his caring older brother had become so twisted. Intaking deeply, Ironhide went to say something to comfort the mech, only for the Prime to hold a hand up sharply, snapping to attention, optics scanning his surroundings._

" _Did you-"The Prime started to ask, only to freeze once more. This time, Ironhide heard what had startled the Prime. A low scrapping noise from behind them. Spinning around, the two Autobots stood, shoulder to shoulder, weapons out. The noise sounded again. Two pairs of neon blue optics locked on a soot covered hunk of metal that was propped against a crumbling wall. The bots shared a look, before soundlessly moving towards it, cannons and blades on the ready. Ironhide slowly reached out, only for the metal sheet to collapse forward and a small, yellow and black striped cannonball shot out from under it and collide with Optimus' ankle._

_Ironhide could only stare at the spitting youngling in Optimus' grasp. The youngling looked only to be about ten vorns old and was covered in various scrapes and splatters of energon. He twisted and turned, kicking out at nothing and screeching the dumbstruck Prime and Weapons Specialist._

" _Hey there! Stop that!" Optimus chided the youngling gently, shuttering his optics rapidly. The little bot glared up at him, but when his tired optics locked with the glyph on his captor's cheek, they shone brightly before falling silent. Moving slowly, as not to startle him, Optimus turned the child carefully so he was cradled in his arms, careful not to startle it._

" _What's your name, little one?"_

_The youngling looked up at the trusting face of the Prime, before shaking his head slowly, hand moving up to cup his throat, letting out a strangled screeching noise. When Ironhide tenderly moved the tiny servo from his throat, optics zeroed into the mess of energon covering the tiny bots throat, and a growl rumbled in his chest, a flare of red-hot fury flying through him at the sight of the vocalizer-less youngling. Flicking his optics up, it was clear that the bot beside him had also seen, judging by the almost homicidal fury dancing in his optics, finally giving Ironhide a glimpse at the war leader that sent many 'Cons running for their sparks._

" _His des' is Bumblebee"_

" _GAH!"_

_Spinning around, Ironhide found himself cannon-to-face with identical sparklings. They gazed up at him, heads tilted to the side, optics bright as they stared up at the cannon. Ignoring the snickering of the Prime behind him, he lowered the cannon and slowly moved to lift the sparklings, who were young enough to still be in their protoforms._

" _Hey there kids. How old are you?"_

_The tiny sparklings held up three fingers each with pride, making the two older bots smile._

" _My des' is Mudflap-"_

" _-an' I'm Skids! 'Bee grabbeded us when da big bots started being mean, but den a-"_

" _-den a big Con gots really mad and hurted him!-"_

" _-But den 'Bee gots away and we hided until we heared you!"_

" _I was gonna tell them!"_

" _I tells it better!"_

" _do not!"_

" _too!"_

" _not"_

" _TOO!"_

" _-_ okay _, that's enough." Optimus broke in, shuttering his optics rapidly between the two tiny bots, ignoring Ironhide's despairing groan of "Not another set!". Flicking his eyes to the larger mech, they held a quick conversation over the commlink, unanimously deciding to quickly get the fragile bots back to base ASAP..._

* * *

Blinking rapidly out of his memories, Bumblebee had to resist the urge to roll his optics at the still incredulous shouts of his older 'brothers'.

**:Guys:**

**:-ah' you for real 'bee?! You little slagger-:**

**:Guys:**

**:-By Cybertron, how by the Pit did you-:**

**:GUYS! I AM HANGING UP NOW! I'LL GET YOU LATER!:**

**:-BUMBLEBEE, DON'T YOU DARE-:**

Feeling very satisfied that he would be one of the only ones who would get to, Bumblebee hung up on Optimus Prime, his older brother and the leader of the Autobots.

* * *

Sam jolted awake, blinking in the darkness on his room, discombobulated as to what had wakened him. Stumbling over to his window, he shivered slightly as he opened the window and popped his head out, the cool air hitting his bare chest. Blinking sleep from his eyes, he peered out into the darkness, looking down at the space where his car  _used_  to sit. The car that was now backing out of the drive slowly and creeping silently down the street. The teen stared at the Camaro for a second, and then dropped his head with a muttered curse. He twisted away from the window and threw on a shirt, changed into his most ratty jeans and stormed from his room. Each step down the stairs was a muffled thud and punctured with a curse as he stalking into the kitchen, past a still-awake Miles, who was perched up on the island and nursing a bowl of lucky charms. He grabbed his leather jacket and threw it on, storming out into the hallway. The front door slammed behind him with a hard crash that threatened to shake the glass panes out of it, leaving Miles alone to wonder just what the hell was going on.

Stalking around the side of the house, the teen grabbed an old bike of his mothers, neglecting his motorbike in favour of silence rather than speed, and tore after the car, silently ranting angrily at the unknown thief.

* * *

He pulled into a junkyard.

Sam couldn't stop the frown spreading across his forehead. Yeah, his car was a  _little_  beat up, but, come  _on_! Sighing, he chucked the bike down and crept behind come old crates, ready to move when a sound that sent chills up his spine met his ears. Gears and metal shifted and clanked together, freezing Sam in place, eye flying wide in shock, body turning to stone.

"You gotta be kidding me. No way is my luck that bad." Sam's lips moved almost silently as he continued to stare into the distance, still unable to look. "Let it be something else. For the love of God, please let my car be fragging possessed."

Moving slowly, he stood up and looked over to his right, then darted back behind the crates at the sight of the bright yellow NBE. Pulling out his phone, he desperately punched in the number for the house, almost screaming in frustration as the dial tone rang again and again.

"Goddamnit Miles, answer the Primus damned phone!"

Finally giving up, he turned the phone on himself, clicking on the video and cursing himself for not bringing his PADD.

"Okay Miles, we've got a code Alpha-Dash-Red, I repeat, an Alpha-Dash-red. Confirmed NBE, time 02:11.35, Co-ordinates 40:26:46N,79:56:55W. Visual of the target will be confirmed."

Lightning twisted his arm so the camera captured the yellow bot, before retracting his arm once more. Peering over the crates again, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the NBE, all his training screaming at him to run. The creature shone a light directly into the sky and several both high and low pitched metallic sounds rang out. The hairs on the back of Lightning's neck stood up at the sound, but what freaked him out was the fact that a tiny voice in the back of his head seemed to whisper that he  _knew_  what was being said. It was like learning a language in school and hearing new words, the sounds were unfamiliar, but he  _knew_  what they could mean.

Shaking his head, he quickly tapped the phone, sending the video directly to Miles.

Finally, the teen had enough. He backed away slowly, keeping the NBE insight at all times, and grabbed the discarded bike, only to freeze at the sound of low growling. He flicked his eyes to the dark sky, and then groaned in disbelief, before turning to find himself being snarled at by three large security dogs.

"Son. Of. A. Bitch."

* * *

Saturday morning dawned bright and Sam woke to Storm barking in his ear. Muttering incoherently, he gently pushed away the cold nose and changed quickly, pointedly not looking down into the empty space in front of the house.

How could he have been so  _stupid_?! He had bought a freaking NBE!  _Stupid stupid stupid!_ He had been up all night going over it in his head. How had he not realised the car he bought was an NBE! It was if all his training had disappeared over night! Stupid!

Sam's night hadn't been exactly peaceful. Thus, he ignored Storms angry barking at the innocent kitchen window.

"Storm, Storm please, it's way too early for this!"

Pulling the carton of milk out of the fridge, the tired teen glanced out through the window that Storm seemed furious at.

_Crash_

The milk carton smashed across the floor and Sam twisted behind the wall, holding Storm's collar, punching Miles' number into the phone he had snatched off the kitchen counter.

"MILES!" he hissed into the phone, eyes flashing in panic, cursing himself for leaving his gun in his room.

" _What?"_  Miles hissed back, clearly annoyed.

"Where the  _hell_  are you?!"

" _...At the junkyard, doing recon. Why?"_

"Satan's Camaro. In my yard." Sam hissed back, slipping 'Satan' into the conversation, just in case S-7 was listening in, because, knowing their luck, they were tapping phones for code-words.

" _...What? It. Came. Back?!"_ Miles snarled, freezing mid-step, before turning on his heel and sprinting out of the yard.

"YES!"

" _Get out of there!"_  Miles yelled, increasing his speed, a tiny sliver of relief spreading through him at the sound of the dial tone.

* * *

_Thwack_

Sam gazed up at the blue sky, momentarily stunned. What his bike had hit, he had no idea. One minute he was skidding down the sidewalk, trying to get as far away from the yellow NBE as possible and the next, he was flat on his back and staring at the clouds.

" _Sam_?"

Groaning, he pulled himself into a sitting position, rubbing his neck and turning to meet the shocked gazes of not only Mikaela , but also quite a few of her popular 'friends'. Attempting to save face, he smiled up at them, getting to his feet stiffly.

"Hey 'Kaela, Stacey, Gemma." He nodded at the three girls, try to flatten his messy hair.

Mikaela could on shake her head disbelievingly, trying to shake the image of the 'unflappable' Sam doing an amazing face-plant infront of her.

"That was... That was really awesome." Was all she could get out, still shaking her head slowly.

"Well, it felt awesome." Sam replied sarcastically, dusting himself down and grabbing the bike once more, wincing at the long scrapes tearing across the paint.

"Are you okay?" It was surprisingly Stacey who asked, flicking her long hair over her shoulder and peering at Sam over the top of her sunglasses.

Sam ran his fingers through his hair again, brushing the dirt from it, glancing around distractedly, as if searching from something, which he apparently found, judging by the sudden annoyance that crossed his face.

"I'm not okay, all right?" He muttered, only just loud enough for the avid watchers to hear, "I'm giant fucking idiot."

"Wait,  _what_?" The three girls shook their heads, as if shaking water from their ears and leaned closer to the oblivious Sam, who climbed onto his bike and kicked off with a distracted, "I got to go" thrown over his shoulder.

The three girls shared an incredulous glance, before Mikeala got up and gathered her stuff, throwing some money on the table to pay for her diet Coke.

"You know what? I'm gonna catch up with you guys later..." She called distractedly, keeping her eyes on Sam's back as she started to follow him, flicking her hand up in farewell.

* * *

For the second time in five minutes, Sam found himself on his back and staring upwards, blinking away the at the now annoyingly frequent black splodges drifting across his eyes, letting out a tiny pathetic,

"Ow. Oh, that hurt. Damn, that's going to hurt in the morning"

Getting back on his feet, Sam put his hands on the bumper of the police car and pulled himself up, the stinging from the abrasions on his hands distracting him from the tiny tingle of familiar energy dancing across his palms.

"Officer!" Though the look on the boy's face was polite, inwardly he was cursing himself for his bad luck. "I am  _so_ sorry! Please, no ill intent was-"

_Wham_

Sam fell backwards as the cop car slammed into his knees and continued to advance, engine growling angrily. The teen scrambled backwards, cursing every deity that seemed to enjoy watching his misfortune, trying to scramble to his feet because there  _had_  to be something wrong with this cop.

Finally, the insane cop stopped trying to run him over. Almost sighing in relief, Sam looked up at the expressionless cop, only for his breath to catch in his throat as two wicked looking probes emerged from the innocent looking headlights.

" _You have_ got _to be kidding me."_  He breathed as the probes retracted once more, and the expressionless cop shuddered and disappeared and with one swift, and becoming frustratingly increasingly common sound, the mustang transformed into a surprisingly familiar NBE with glowing red optics and snarled down at him, clawed servos flexing.


	10. First Contact

Sam scanned the bi-pedal form of the large NBE in front of him, barely letting the outline imprint on his irises before flipping himself onto his feet and following all Elite protocol when faced with a NBE and having no backup nor suitable arsenal.

Removing yourself from the situation as fast as possible and rendezvousing with backup, ASAP.

So, in short, he ran like Hades' Hounds were after him.

He tore through the empty car lot, eyes zipping from pillar to post, desperately scanning for both a way out without alerting the public and looking for a blind turn to dodge down, very conscience that the snarling NBE was right on his heels and taking wild swings at his retreating back. Lightning cursed himself, not only for being caught without a gun and hesitating when the probes first appeared, but also because he hadn't recognised the alt mode of the NBE, despite the fact that he had not only seen the NBE before, he had returned its youngling to it.

Lightning continued to run, when a blood-stopping, almost agonisingly strong servo wrapped around his ankle. He only had a moment to try and franticly wrench his ankle free, before he was soaring through the air, a mixture of the grey ceiling and livid red optics flying past his eyes, and then being smashed into the windscreen of a beat-up old car, momentarily winded. His hands darted over the shattered glass, ignoring the stinging pain of the glass scraping his palms, and then he slid himself over the side of the bonnet, rolling across the cold stone floor and staggering to his feet. He started to sprint, only to be forced back against the side of the car as a clawed servo swooped through the air and crashed into his midsection. Clawed servos hooked under Lightning's armpits and lifted him like a rag-doll, bringing him up to optic level. A faint buzzing noise sounded and Lightning had the odd feeling of being submerged, inch by inch, in icy cold water.

"Are you username Sparks217?"

Lightning ignored the mechanical growl, instead focusing his energy on trying to twist out of the ironclad grip, icy blue eyes flashing with rage when the Con shook him in an attempt to obtain a response, repeating the question.

"So what if I am?" Lightning snarled back, attempting to distract Barricade as he brought his leg up to be tucked against the small of his back, slowly reaching behind him and pulling down the trouser leg, his fingers grasping the leather brown hilt of the dagger secured in his shin-holster.

"Where is the item pictured with you in the photograph '64701_371280089562473_127409897282828_1309288_1040485989_n'? Where are the glass-AGH!"

Barricade gave a static-filled screech of pain and fury as, in one quick fluid motion, Lightning slid the dagger that gave off an almost gold shine out of its scabbard and plunged it, hilt deep, into Barricade's servo. Yanking the blade out, Lightning gave the NBE no time to recover before stabbing his servo again, causing the furious Con to drop the teen in a primal, knee-jerk reaction. The Elite hit the ground running, his only focus to get as far away from the livid Con as possible.

Time seemed to slow, sound faded, colours blurred as he concentrated only on pushing himself forward, his feet barely touching the ground as he made his way towards daylight.

20m...10m...5m...

Eyes widening, Sam threw his hands into the air in an attempt to stop Mikeala from driving head first into NBE territory.

"GET BACK! Stop! 'Keala-"

_Wham!_

For the third time in less than half-an-hour, Sam found himself flat on his back, completely winded and his possibly cracked ribs screaming in pain. Mikeala got to her feet, her own eyes flashing with fury as she pulled up her bike, blind to Sam's wince as he got to his feet.

"God! What is your problem, Sam?" She hissed, brushing down any dirt that had gathered on her clothes. Glancing over at the other teen, some of her anger abated as she took in his ripped clothes and scrapped cheek and hands.

"What-"

"LIGHTNING!"

Blaze skidded around the corner, his blonde hair flying around him, and threw something at Sam, and only when the copper-haired boy snagged it out of the air and quickly cocked it did she realise it was a gleaming handgun.

Feeling vaguely like she had fallen down the rabbit-hole, Mikeala could only stare as the two boys had a quick paced argument in Latin, before Sam's hand flashed out and wrapped around her wrist in a tight grip, yanking her forwards, towards the bright sunlight. Her mouth fell open as subtle changes took place in the two teens she had studied with everyday. Their eyes sharpened, their movements became more graceful, but with a dangerous predatory edge and they seemed to emit an aura of power and knowledge.

She barely had time to start to run, when a huge, towering metallic creature exploded out from behind her, snarling alien words at the three adolescents. She wanted to scream, but the sound stuck in her throat as the two boys beside her kept her moving, not giving her a second to comprehend what was going on.

Using his free hand, Sam-but was this really Sam? Sam was the popular seventeen year old, this guy seemed to not only recognised the giant alien, but also manage to keep his head when being chased like a rabbit by it-twisted his wrist and let off three shots, and judging by the metallic  _ping!_ s and the sharp snarls, he managed to hit it. To her right, Miles pulled a strange red circler ball with glowing blue spikes from his pocket and twisted it like a Rubik's cube, then lobbed it backwards. The question never made it past her lips as a wall of  _heat_ erupted behind her and a blaze of yellow exploded in the corner of her eye. The giant metal creature gave what sounded like a cry of anger as the flames cut him off from his prey, but all too soon, just when they could practically  _taste_ the sunlight, the wall stared to collapse.

Blaze cursed under his breath as he spun to face the NBE. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lightning do likewise, giving the civilian a push in the back to run on, snapping angrily at her when she refused. As the wall of flames finally extinguished, both Elite's stood shoulder-to-shoulder, the civilian behind them, ready to defend, when a familiar beat-up bright yellow Camaro shot in front of them, fishtailed around and throwing open its doors.

Lightning and Blazed locked stares. A whole conversation flew between them without them saying a word.

_Can we trust it?_

_It hasn't attacked._

_It hasn't helped the other one._

_We have to get a civilian to safety._

_It's dangerous._

_It's our only chance._

The exchange took barely a second, and they were reacting before it was quite finished.

The backseat flew forward as Blaze clambered in, leaving Lightning to try and convince the almost hysterical civilian to get in.

"Sam, what is that thing?"

"You have to get in the car. Get in."

"Get in the car. Trust me." Sam gripped her forearms, forcing her to look deep into his eyes. She gazed into them, hypnotised and unable to look away.

"Trust me!"

Mikeala nodded and allowed herself to be bundled into the passenger seat while Sam dodged around the front of the car and swung himself into the driver seat. The cloud of dust that had momentarily blinded the NBE settled and the Con turned its enraged optics on the disguised Bot. In a quick flash, the gearstick shot forward, the steering wheel spun and the Bot shot off, speeding into the bright sunlight with a sharp screech, and with a blur of metal, the now transformed Mustang cop-car followed them.

Leaning out of the still-open window, Sam shot at the Con, causing it to swerve, but still keeping up with its target. Buildings and shocked pedestrians went speeding past as the Camaro continued to gain speed, slipping in and out of the various lanes of traffic. Miles leaned forward and pressed a handful of bizarre bronze orbs, each no bigger than a marble, into Sam's hand. Sam leaned out the window, drew his arm back and threw them, making sure they were clear from Bee's back wheels. They rolled across the road, quivered for half a second, then exploded, tiny pieces of shrapnel tearing Barricade's front wheels and causing him to spin out of control as he attempted to get his balance back.

"Oh, God! We're gonna die! We're gonna die!" Mikeala screamed into Sam's ear, her knees almost to her chest and peering out through trembling fingers. Miles leaned forward and rubbed her shoulders with one hand comfortingly, the other passing Sam more bullets from the pouch on his belt.

"No, we're not. No, we're not gonna die. Trust me. He's a kick-ass driver!" Sam attempted to calm Mikeala down, only for the words to die in his throat at the sight of the large glass window the NBE they were currently sitting in was hurtling towards.

Turning slowly, Sam met Miles' gaze and both reached the same conclusion. Sam's arms darted out and locked around Mikeala, dragging her across the seat and onto his lap, ignoring her squeak of surprise as Miles launched himself into the front seat. Their hands pulled at the door handles, growing frantic when they refused to open.

Mikeala turned and buried her head in Sam's chest, who locked his arms around her and, like Miles, leaned back into his seat and tensed up in preparation of the crash.

_Smash!_

Glass rained down over the already scraped bonnet as Bumblebee just kept going, crashing into a stack of crates and leading the Mustang further and further into the warehouse, before spinning and speeding out of it, tearing through the mostly deserted side-streets of Tranquillity and into the junkyard where Sam had first seen him transform.

Reversing, Bumblebee hid in a shadowed area of the already dark yard, cutting the engine and plunging the car into silence. Sam let his hand drift to the handle once more, cursing when the door remained locked. Mikeala reached out and twisted the keys.

"The car won't start. At least we ditched the monster, right?" She laughed nervously, trying not to feel even more nervous at the sight of the other teens' stone faces. Reaching around, Sam lightly pressed a finger to her lips in a 'Shhh' gesture, guiding her eyes to see the slow moving form of Barricade with his other hand.

Who, as if sensed it, stopped dead.

"Okay." Sam whispered, watching as the keys turned themselves and the engine start quietly, "Time to start."

Bumblebee's tires spun and Barricade reversed sharply, but had to stop at the last minute as Bumblebee shot forward and swerved around him, the ground flying beneath his tires as he sped, Barricade hot on his tailpipe.

* * *

He pushed himself forward, but knew he wouldn't be able to outrun the enraged Con. He swung around sharply, his doors flying open, letting his charges fly out, then quickly transformed, standing defensively in front of them as Barricade transformed and launched himself at the scout, flipping him over. The Mustang turned to glare down at the three humans, hand blades spinning dangerously as a small silver blur launched itself out of his chest.

" _Run to safety!"_  he ordered his youngling as the yellow scout crashed into his side, forcing him to smash against one of the tall buildings to his right.

Barricade skidded backwards, twisting his pede so he was balanced and opened his servos to the young bright Bot invitingly. The scout wasted no time, his first strike hitting the Con straight across the chest plate, his second stopped by one clawed servo wrapping around his own, using the momentum of the punch to swing the scout around and throw him a good hundred yards.

The scout got to his pedes, flexed his servos and launched himself forward once more...

* * *

Sam flat out sprinted, both he and Miles gripping one of Mikeala's wrists in a tight grip each, almost dragging her forward as they tried to move as far away as possible from the fighting NBEs, hyper-aware of the one following them. Sam increased his speed, his legs taking longer leaps, but he could now hear the footfalls of the smaller NBE even closer.

"Blaze! Decoy 4-7!"

"Confirmed!"

Letting go of Mikeala's hand, he veered off to the right sharply, grinning at the tell-tale sound of scattering stones which told him that the NBE had followed him. He continued to lead the NBE away from the other two teens, ignoring Mikeala's calls after him. His brief victory was severed when the petite NBE collided with his legs, hitting the back of his knees and causing him to crash to the ground. Sam spun around; leg drawn up to smash down into its face, only to freeze as he stared down at the familiar face. Frenzy didn't recognise him, understandable since the last time they had met; Sam had been wearing his Elite mask, only his eyes showing. Unfortunately, he paid for his hesitation. With one quick swipe, Frenzy's clawed servo sliced Sam's jeans, leaving three deep cuts and causing him to hiss in shock, which jolted him out of his daze. The teen managed to scramble to his feet and took off once more, Frenzy still on his heels.

" _Have to stop fleshling, have to give fleshling Starscream so he'll leave caretaker alone. Have to get fleshling!"_

Sam stumbled mid-step, an image of the terrified caretaker clutching his youngling blossoming in front of his eyes.  _Never sympathize with your target; it will cloud your judgement,_ he was always told. He tried to push away the idea that the angry NBE was only attacking under duress, but the tiny whisper kept echoing in his head.

Yet again, he paid for his distraction. Frenzy launched himself at Sam and together, the two tumbled down the steep slope that guarded the junkyard and collided with the chain link fence. Sam staggered to his feet as Frenzy clinged to his torso, sharp claws scraping his chest. The human struggled against the Cybertronian, basic Elite instinct telling him to throw the hazard off, while the Sam part of him telling him not to hurt the youngling who was desperate to help his creator.

" _Frenzy! Frenzy, STOP!"_

On  _STOP_ , Frenzy froze, his glowing optics meeting Sam's equally blue eyes.

" _S-Sam?"_

Before Sam could speak, a black-haired blur appeared beside him and Frenzy went limp, his head rolling off his shoulders, wires sparking as Mikeala continued to hack at the crippled youngling.

" _NO!"_

Sam lunged at Mikeala, tackling her to the ground and wrenched the power drill from her hands, throwing it clear. Mikeala could only stare up at the usually cold Sam, mouth open at the sight of the emotions he kept hidden so well rolling across his face, homicidal fury and agony dancing through his eyes. He glanced at her for only a second and she flinched back, unable to grasp what was wrong. He turned away from her, trying to reach the motionless youngling, only to be yanked back by a pair of strong arms wrapped around his chest. Sam struggled against the restraints, feet kicking wildly as he tried to struggle away, his horse cries and curses stabbing the air. He was so far gone; he didn't notice he had failed to revert back to English, Cybertronian clicks spilling from his lips.

Miles tried desperately to call to him, his own horror fighting to get free at the sight of the energon soaked body, unable to even look at the girl, as even though Blaze knew she was innocent to the younglings true nature, Miles couldn't risk glancing at her, for fear his control would snap.

Mikeala looked at the two boys she considered her brothers, and then looked back at the silver body on the ground in front of her. Suddenly, several whispered conversations that had been told to her echoed in her ear. He hands flew to her mouth as disgust twisted in her stomach as she slowly realised what she had done.

"Oh God. Oh God Oh God Oh God. Oh G- I didn't know! I swear I didn't-!" She cut herself off as bile rose in her throat at the sight of the child she had dismembered. "I'm so sorry", she whispered, unable to tear away her gaze. Its head lay still, before shivering slightly and its eyes lighting up once more. Several long, spindly legs grew out of nowhere and Mikeala couldn't move, fear freezing her in place.

" _S-Sam?"_

His head snapped around to look down at Frenzy's once still head. His previously dark optics were bright as they looked up at him in confusion, seeming unconcerned to the lifeless form of the rest of his body. Miles and Sam could only stare down at the tiny child, who raised his front two legs in a seemingly universal sign for 'pick me up'. The scarred boy shot out of his brothers' arms and scooped the youngling up, holding him close to his chest, whispering soothing Cybertronian nonsense into his audios. The blonde came round to his other side and hesitantly stroked soothing circles on the little youngling's helm, while Mikeala shook her head numbly as the boys had  _another_  quick fire conversation, this one in what sounded vaguely like Japanese, bring the total languages the boys seemed to know up to seven, (French and German, which they did in school; Latin; Japanese; Italian (Mikeala had heard Sam mutter it under his breath frequently); Spanish (Miles had had what sounded like an interesting discussion with the Mexican transfer last year) and also, apparently alien, since Sam had spoke in the same tongue the huge cop-car and the little robot who could apparently survive being beheaded spoke).

Sam said something to the tiny robot, pulling his mobile from his pocket. The tiny creature stared at it for a moment, before a beam of light shot from its optics, scanning it. Within seconds, a second mobile sat innocently in Sam's hand, who then _carefully_  tucked it into his pocket. Unexpectedly, Mikeala found herself on her feet and staring into Miles' unblinking eyes.

"Do not, I repeat, do  _not_  tell  _anyone_  Sam can speak their language. Also, do not tell  _anyone_  that we have a youngling with us, understood?"

Mikeala nodded, unable to disagree with his command. The Elite relaxed imperceptibly, letting go of her shoulders, but guiding her over to Sam. He barely glanced at her, tilting his head at the slope, a wordless command for them to climb up, which they followed dutifully.

* * *

Bumblebee stood in his bi-pedal form, waiting for his charges. They made their way up the small incline, eyes never wavering from him. The scout had to stop the frown that threatened to mar his features. While the human femme and the 'other boy' were unharmed, his main charge was  _covered_  in scratches, causing Bee to make a mental note to remind Ratchet to take a look at him.

"What is it?" The femme whispered, her eyes wide and fear palpable. Again, Bumblebee had to stop the frown from appearing.  _It?_  His processor whirled, slightly insulted as being referred to as a-

"-He. He is like a-a, you know, like a super-advanced robot."

The yellow Bot shuttered his optics for a micro-click, but his liking for the 'other boy' shot  _waaay_  up.

As the two boys moved closer, the girl's arm darted out and grabbed them tightly, knuckles whitening.

"What are you doing?" she hissed, clearly under the impression that keeping her voice low would make it impossible for the Bot to hear.

"I don't think he wants to hurt us. He would have done that already." His main charge murmured, those shocking blue eyes never wavering from his guardian's. Bumblebee nodded enthusiastically, trying to show the three humans non-verbally that he would  _never_  hurt them.

"I think it wants something from me." He continued, moving almost soundlessly closer, right hand ghosting over the gun that was tucked into the holster that hung over his right hip, left hand twirling an odd gold dagger in his hand, while the blonde also let his hand drift over his concealed gun. For a micro-click Bumblebee wondered why two ordinary teenage humans carried such dangerous weapons, but pushed it aside, getting a sharp ping that told him First Command were almost outside the earth's atmosphere, giving the yellow Bot about fifteen minutes to meet up at the rendezvous.

"What?" the girl asked tiredly, as if she was ready to just give up.

"Well, 'cause the other one was talking about my Facebook page."

"...You two are the strangest boys I have ever met." She growled, gazing up into the night sky like it had the answer to the meaning of life.

Ignoring her rant, the two teens walked even closer the yellow scout, surprisingly not frightened.

"Can you talk?" Sam finally asked. Scanning the internet, Bumblebee quickly narrowed down thousands of sounds and songs to form a basically understandable sentence.

"XM Satellite Radio...Digital cable brings you... Columbia Broadcasting System..."

"So you... You talk through the radio?" Miles ventured, grinning when the scout bobbed his head happily and clapped his servos together.

"Thank you, you're beautiful. You're wonderful, you're wonderful."

"So, what was that last night? What was that?" Sam continued, his head cocked slightly to the side.

"Message from Starfleet, Captain...Throughout the inanimate vastness of space...Angels will rain down like visitors from heaven! Hallelujah!"

While Mikeala moved forward, both Sam and Miles faltered back a step. They turned to look at one another, blanking Mikeala's question which confirmed the fact that what they were dealing with was alien.

_Rain down? Is he talking about an invasion?_  Sam's eyes hissed to Miles, flashing with an emotion that could have been fear, anger or worry.

_I don't know,_  Miles admitted,  _possibly. But I don't think he's one of the 'bad guys'_

_Neither do I._ Sam also admitted. _S-7 will know through. We'll have to stick with him, to keep him safe._

_Agreed?_

_Agreed._

With a smooth clicking, Bee transformed back into his Camaro form, his door swinging open and a smooth, country voice asking, "Any more questions you want to ask?"

Eyes wide, hands shaking infinitesimally, Sam's eyes fell on the open door.

"He wants us to get in." Miles whispered, his own eyes darting to Sam, realising that it was only really just hitting him that the car he had been in was an NBE. It wasn't hard to see that he was terrified to move, because getting into the car without having time to process the outcome was one kind of bravery; it was another entirely to get in knowing what it was and what could happen. Through Sam had never said it, Miles  _knew_  something had happened to him to do with a NBE  _before_  he was brought to be trained, but he didn't know  _what_.

"And go where?" Mikeala's incredulous voice seemed to break Sam out of his memories. He glanced at the Camaro, then at the star filled sky, sliding his eyes close and collecting himself for a moment, before opening them once more, looking more at peace than Miles had ever seen him, and glanced over at Mikeala.

"Fifty years from now, when you're looking back at your life, don't you want to be able to say you had the guts to get in the car?"

They shared a glance, before Mikeala took a steadying breath and moved forwards, sliding into the car. Sam turned back to look at Miles and smiled softly at him. The two teens nodded, and took a small, hesitant step forwards.

To them, it was tiny.

To their future, it was the biggest step they could ever take.

They slipped into the car, Sam into the driving seat, Miles into the passenger and Mikeala in-between the two, through more so beside Sam.

The back wheels spun and the Camaro took off out of the junkyard, dust flying up behind him, only stopping to grab Mikeala's bag.

* * *

Barricade tried to pull himself to his feet, desperately calling for Frenzy down the Creator-Created bond they shared, praying to Primus and each of the First-Forged that his sparkling got away undamaged.

" _Frenzy! Frenzy, Please answer me! Are you injured? Frenzy!"_

" _I am well, creator. I am with Witwicky boy. Will retrieve glasses ASAP"_

" _Oh thank The Thirteen. Stay safe and out of sight, do not put yourself at risk!"_

" _Of course, creator._

* * *

They sped down the dimly lit tunnel in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

Bumblebee was wondering what on Cybertron had Barricade so distracted that he let his gaurd down long enough for Bee to pull a rookie move and get away with it unscratched.

Miles was trying to work out just how important the Witwicky glasses were, that caused a group of aliens to come to earth and fight over.

Sam was gazing out at the passing cars, partly thinking about possible escape routes and tactics S-7 might employ, and partly trying to squash down the memory of July 18th

' _Why won't they wake up Sophie? Mommy, wake up! Daddy, get up!'_

The silence was finally broken by Mikeala, who leaned over and whispered into Sam's ear with genuine bewilderment, "You know what I don't understand? Why, if he's supposed to be, like, this super-advanced robot, does he transform back into this piece-of-crap Camaro?"

The three teens barely had time to blink, before they were sitting on their asses in the middle of the tunnel, Bumblebee's taillights disappearing into the sea of red.

As if practiced, the two boys turned to glare coldly at Mikeala, with one eyebrow raised and arms crossed, it was unbelievable how strikingly similar they looked.

"I-"

Mikeala's apology died in her throat a sleek, shiny, smooth 2007 Camaro pulled up beside them, its doors open invitingly. Pausing only to pick their jaws up from the ground, the three scrambled in, Sam practically crowing with delight at the smooth purr of the finely tuned engine, grinning over at Miles, who winked back, leaning back in his leather seat and just waiting for fate to take its course.

* * *

They got out of Bee slowly, gazing up at the night sky, eyes immediately drawn to the four large shapes hurtling towards earth.

"Is that them?" Mikeala whispered as they moved to stand in front of Bumblebee's bonnet, nodding when his headlights flashed in confirmation and shivering slightly. Noticing this, Sam wrapped an arm around her shoulders, rubbing her arms slightly as she curled into the warmth he provided.

As the four shot off in different directions, the three teens followed the path of the closest one, racing through the grassy fields and avoiding the impact trail.

"Is that their natural form?" Miles whispered into Sam's ear, who nodded distractedly.

* * *

_The spiral towers were burning, carriers and sparklings being ushered as fast as possible out of the blazing capital city, panicked creators standing defensively in front of their families, refusing to move and being destroyed, murdered for refusing to let their red opticed brothers destroy their family unit. Carriers gave their sparks up in the attempt to let their sparklings get to safety, but more often than not, they had to watch their children being slaughtered in front of them. So many cries, so many deaths, so much energon coating the streets..._

* * *

"Sam?"

The boy jolted out of his flashback, shaking his head a little to clear it. Mikeala pointed down at the curled up NBE. It lay still for a second, before transforming quickly, arms and legs unfurling. The three teens looked up. And up. And up...

"Damn, he's tall" Miles whispered, mouth parting slightly at the height of the NBE.

Blue optics darted down to the three humans, his gaze sweeping over the femme and the young male, before landing on the smaller male in the middle.

Optimus' head tilted to the side slightly as his optics locked with the male's eyes.  _Bumblebee was correct;_  he thought abstractedly,  _they are very similar to our optics._

Sam knew he should do something, blink, look away, something,  _anything_ , but he couldn't. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the tall NBE's optics. It was like a magnetic pull, he couldn't even  _think_ , everything just seemed to  _stop_  for a second.

Optimus couldn't look away from the small organic, it was only when a sharp  _ping!_  from Ironhide rang through his processor was he able to snap himself out of his daze. Shaking his head slightly, he turned away from the strange human and moved away, slipping through the grassy fields to go and find an Alt-mode.

"Sam! Dude, you've got to stop spacing out on us!" Miles shoved at Sam's shoulder in what appeared like jest, but it wasn't hard to see the underlining concern his eyes. The teen sent a reassuring smile to his brother, before turning and leading the other two back to Bumblebee, ignoring the odd ache in his chest.

* * *

They pulled into a deserted alleyway, Bee's headlights cutting through the steam pouring from several manhole covers. They sat there for a minute, until Miles pointed out through the windscreen, down at the other end of the alley.

"I think that's them"

Slowly, making no sudden movements, the three teens slipped out of Bumblebee, eyes wide and filled with wonder as a sleek Pontiac Solstice GXP, a powerful sounding GMC TopkickC4500, a shiny Search and rescue Hummer and finally, a somehow regal looking Peterbilt 379Semi Truck appeared from the mouth of the alley and drove towards Bumblebee, the Peterbilt taking point.

Sam moved forward, his eyes locked on the insignia on his grill that matched the one on the yellow Camero's steering wheel, only to slide back once more when the NBE started to transform.

The three teens staggered back, forming a tight triangle, shoulder to shoulder as they rotated, eyes wide as they drank in the sight of the five transforming NBE's, Sam and Miles' hands once again ghosting over their guns in a deeply ingrained habit.

Optimus Prime knelt down, his optics once again sweeping over the children and landing on the copper-haired boy in the middle.

"Are you Samuel James Witwicky, descendent of Archibald Witwicky?"

"They know your name." Mikeala whispered in awe as she gazed up at the Prime's expressionless face, azure eyes wide.

"...Yeah" Sam hesitatingly answered, his gaze never wavering.

Miles didn't miss the way the large NBE's shoulders drooped infinitesimally, as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, causing him to wonder just why Sam was so important to them.

"My name is Optimus Prime. We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron."

"-But you can call us Autobots for short." The tall, yellow and red once Hummer broke in, his own shoulders shrugging slightly.

"Autobots" Sam murmured softly, an air of recognition unheard to all but his brother, who looked at him sharply, though Sam ignored it, lost in memories for a brief moment...

* * *

" _The Autobots were on one side of the war. They fought for truth, for justice, for the freedom of all sentient beings. They hated to fight, as they still saw their adversaries as their friends, brothers, sisters, creators, carriers and sparklings._ They _, however, did not see it like that. The Decepticons hated their once-brothers. They had only one thing in mind, the total overthrow of the universe. They wanted the Allspark for their own selfish needs, and thus began the war..." Ally sighed, her eyes lost in her history..._

* * *

"What's cracking, little bitches?"

Jolting out of his stupor, Sam spun to stare at the slim silver bot who did a quite impressive back-flip and landed on an old, beat-up pick-up.

Flicking his eyes over to the Prime, he couldn't stop the tiny smile that tugged at the corners of his lips as the Bot pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed wearily, his own small smile playing around the edges of his lip plates.

"My first lieutenant. Designation: Jazz."

"This looks like a cool place to kick it." The Second-In-Command continued, crossing his arms and appraising the three teens through his visor, quickly coming to several conclusions and not liking them.

Jazz himself was special-ops. A spy, a saboteur. His training to become what he was had been extensive. He was taught how to speak, how to move, Pit, how to  _intake_. And he was seeing himself in the two teen boys. They were wary of them, not scared, but  _wary_ , as if they were not surprised at the sight of five giant alien robots that could squish them without breaking a sweat, instead, only waiting for the moment when they would make the move to. On top of that, their optics-eyes, their  _eyes_ \- never rested, darting from Bot to Bot, scanning every joint, every screw,  _every weak spot_ , he couldn't help but muse morbidly. Also, they stood defensively, almost back to back so they could see from all angles,  _and_  they were twisted in such a way that they could push the female out of harm's way and be able to draw their hidden weapons. Yet, Jazz couldn't help but believe that they could be trusted, could be counted on. Nevertheless, he decided to watch them and only if they proved a risk, would he say anything. Plus, it was quite fun to watch Prime's confused expression as he tried to work out the copper-haired teen.  _Oh pit yeah, this will be fun_ , he grinned to himself.

"My weapons specialist, Ironhide." Optimus continued as he got to his pedes, gesturing over to his old friend.

"You feeling lucky, punk?" The older mech grizzled, raising his arms and warming up his cannons, a smirk sliding across his lip plates.

" _Damn_ , aren't they  _beautiful!_  Wow man, what kinda firepower you got with those?"

Miles grinned up at the dumbstruck Bot, practically bouncing in excitement as he took in the dangerous beauty of the cannons, seeming naive to the taken aback expressions on the other Bots and Mikeala's faces. Sam pinched the bridge of his own nose with a humour filled, exasperated sigh and reached over, clipping Miles across of the back of the head.

"Our medical officer, Ratchet." Blinking away his confusion, Optimus continued, deciding to wait until  _after_  they found the Allspark to deal with the very mystifying humans. Shaking away his own bewilderment to sniff at the air, the medic narrowed his optics at the three humans.

"The males are not afraid, though they are carrying a loaded weapon each."

Shrugging and sighing sheepishly, the teens pulled out their hand guns and turned them over in their hands.

"Hey, when you see your car change to a sixteen foot metal giant and get chased by a psychotic cop-car, you kinda don't want to be caught on unawares."

The red and blue leader cocked his head slightly, optics brightened as he made to question the boy's word, before pushing the thought firmly to the back of his processer, though making a small note to ask Bumblebee what in the name of Cybertron his charge was talking about.

"You already know your guardian, Bumblebee."

Said scout burst into a flurry of dance moves, much to the amusement of the older bots and the blonde haired boy.

"Check on the rep

Yep, second to none"

As the scout trilled happily, Ratchet saw fit to hit him with another scanning beam, which would be similar to a human doctor sticking a lollypop stick on his patients tongue to check his throat, causing the young bot to cough harshly.

"His vocal processors were damaged in battle. I'm still working on them."

Mikeala turned slowly, looking up and finally asking the question no one had voiced, but all had been thinking.

"Why are you here?"

The air seemed to condense around them, a heavy weight pressing on all their shoulders. Optimus' head dropped slightly as he answered her.

"We are here looking for the All Spark. And we must find it before Megatron."

"Wait- sorry, Mega-what?" Sam broke in, both he and Miles moving forward with an intense look of concentration on their faces.

Prime sighed and touch the side of his helm, a hologram of the cracking ground, so realistic it had the three humans scrambling backwards, spreading out beneath their feet. Twisted metal spikes grew from the ground; a noxious green sky choked the stars; rivers of molten metal and surfaces coated in faint glowing fresh energon spread out around them.

"Our planet was once a powerful empire, peaceful and just, until we were betrayed by Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. All who defied them were destroyed. Our war finally consumed the planet, and the All Spark was lost to the stars. Megatron followed it to Earth, where Captain Witwicky found him."

"My grandfather." Sam whispered, his face bleached of all colour, his hands trembling faintly and a sick, nauseous feeling choking his throat. The boy visibly flinched when the jeering Decepticon leader speared a wounded Autobot scout, who fell to the ground, motionless. His own mind rebelled, the image of shining spiral cities, clear skies and laughing Cybertronians flashing across his vision, the sheer injustice making him want to scream, cry and lash out all at once.

"It was an accident," Optimus continued sadly, flicking off the hologram, "that intertwined our fates. Megatron crash-landed before he could retrieve the Cube. He accidentally activated his navigation system. The coordinates to the Cube's location on Earth were imprinted on his glasses."

"-How'd you know about his glasses?" Miles broke in this time, his eyes flicking over to the still-pale Sam and back again.

" Facebook."

"Facebook." Miles repeated, eyes rolling in an 'of course' motion.

"If the Decepticons find the All Spark," Ratchet picked up, his servo clenching at the thought,

"they will use its power to transform Earth's machines and build a new army."

"And the human race will be extinguished." Intaking deeply, Optimus got to his pedes once more, straightening his shoulders and looking down at the three teens who stared determinedly back at him. His team gathered around him, also staring down at the three.

Miles and Mikeala moved, flanking Sam once more, Miles to his right and Mikeala to his left. "Please-"she breathed, her gaze locked with the medic's, Miles' locked with the SIC and Sam's with the Prime's, "Please tell me that you have those glasses."


	11. Red Alert

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry it took me this long to put this up! I just haven't had time, between exams and weddings and holidays....Here you go anyway!

They were once again speeding down the streets of Tranquillity, a convoy of very impressive vehicles which, if one was to look closely enough, only one of had a driver. The snazzy yellow Camaro took point this time, bringing two of the teens to their home. They pulled into a side alley and the three teens got out.

"Five minutes, all right?" Sam called, his eyes on the Peterbilt, who flashed his lights on in response. Nodding slightly, Sam turned and followed Miles, darting into the garden. He sprinted across the lawn, coming to a stop behind Miles, who stood at the backdoor, riffling through his pockets and cursing under his breath. Sam absentmindedly scratched Storm's head, who whined nervously, pressing his nose into his palm, steering it towards the fence, behind which the Bots hid.

"What are you waiting for?" he hissed, glancing at his watch.

"I can't find the damn keys!" Miles snapped back.

" _What?"_

"They must have fallen out when we were eluding the crazed cop!"

Snarling a curse under his breath, Sam turned to see Mikeala standing behind him, hands on her hips, and the transformed Autobots standing in his garden.

"Jeeze- goddamn ninja bots" the slim teen growled under his breath, blowing his bangs from his eyes, ignoring Ironhide's 'blink' and Jazz's sudden laughter. Stepping away from the backdoor, he let his gaze roam over the house, searching for a way in. Realising that he couldn't find one, he decided to make one, and so turning and pulling his sleeve down over his wrist, he moved towards the kitchen window and pulled his arm back. His fist flew towards it the window, intending to smash it open. Ignoring Mikeala's soft protest, his fist was merely centimetres from the glass pane when he froze mid-swing, jerking his arm back sharply.

"Wait-I left my window open." Spinning around, he once again locked eyes with the Prime, stepping forward a bit.

"Can you give us a boost?"

Nodding, Optimus spread his palm, allowing the three teens to clamber on. As he lifted them gently, Mikeala grasped Sam's arm tightly, her face stark white. Miles didn't seem to be fairing much better, he was standing at the edge of the palm, his own hand resting over his gun, body tensed for fight or flight, ready to shoot the hand that carried them if it made any sudden movements, or jump from it, knowing he'd be fine as he had survived bigger drops than two storeys. Sam however, stood at the centre of the hand and met Miles' confused glance with own of his own. By all rights, he should be worse off than Miles', hell, he shouldn't even be here in the first place, and he should have shot his guardian the moment he stood up. But something about the large metallic aliens called him, like a light magnetic pull, and standing in the centre of the NBE's palm, who could easily crush them by only flexing his fingers, he had never felt safer. Exhaling lightly, he wonder if he was truly loosing it as he followed Miles off the hand when it came close beside his open widow, helping Mikeala jump the small gap. He turned to look Optimus in the optics and gave him a tiny smile.

"Thanks"

Sam flicked on the light and pointed Mikeala over to the shelves that lined one side of his room. "Check over there, me and Miles are going to check downstairs."

She nodded in confirmation and both boys turned and slipped out the door and down the stairs. Sam was halfway down when he realised Miles was staring at him from the top step with a worried expression across his face. Without having to ask, he knew what was on his brother's mind, and nodded slightly, confirming that he too had become conscious of the real identity of NBE-1.

"What are we going to do?" Miles whispered, and Sam was struck at just how  _young_  he looked. He was only seventeen by a few weeks, but that wasn't the only thing that made him seem young. Miles wasn't like Sam, he had had a childhood. His mother died at his birth and his dad hadn't wanted to know, but Melissa raised him like her own for seven and a half years. He was able to play pretend when Sam had been on solo missions, gotten a kiss to a scraped knee when Sam was sent to the sterile, cold med-bay, woke from nightmares about monsters under the bed with a hug when Sam had to lie awake, staring at the ceiling for hours upon end. When he started his training, Sam taught him the ropes. When they went on missions, Sam tried his damn hardest to take hits for him. Hell, when he was escaping HQ, Sam stayed behind to buy him more time. Even though the age gap between the two was less than a few months, Sam was like a much older brother who would do anything for his sibling, and, if he was brutally honest, he babied him. He had promised Melissa that he would look after Miles and he would be damned if he saw another child forced to be an emotionless, husk of a shell, Elite.

Retracing a few steps, he placed a hand on Miles' arm, offering silent comfort and an almost tangible

' _It will all work out'_

Miles stared hard into Sam's eyes, looking for a hint of deception. When he found none, he relaxed slightly, his breath flying out of his mouth with a soft _woosh!_  and a look of confidence taking place on his face. Nodding slightly at him, Sam turned and continued down the stairs, very conscious of the time trickling away.

With each step he took, the niggling feeling that he was forgetting something grew in the back of Sam's mind. It was only when he was two steps from the bottom that he froze, coming to a jarring stop and causing Miles to stop and look at him in confusion.

"What was that thing they were looking for? The Allspark?" Lightning questioned harshly, his eyes flashing, mind suddenly going 300 light years a minute, breath hitching slightly in panic.

Miles eyed his brother oddly and answered, "Yeah, why?"

"What was the other thing they called it?"

"What, the Cube?"

Suddenly, Miles also froze, and the two dishonoured Elites stared at one another, eyes wide and mouths parted slightly. Miles shook his head slightly, as if denying it would make it false.

"No. No Way. No.  _NO_ "

Shaking his head, Sam darted around the corner and into the kitchen, flicking on the light and trying desperately to focus on the  _now_  and not the _oh shit oh shit oh shit_  that was floating around his head. Miles shadowed him, his lips moving soundlessly as he mouthed ideas for getting into headquarters, only to end up with Bots on ice, Mikeala either being forced into S-7 or 'disappearing', himself forced to take part in Elite missions and Sam's mangled, dead body every time. They moved in silence, until Sam gave a strangled cry of victory and plucked the glasses case from the fruit bowl. His eyes lingered on the glasses panes, holding them up to the light, honing in on the tiny lines and warps in the glass that at first seemed like scratches to the untrained eye, but now that Sam knew what he was looking for, the glyphs were so oblivious that he could have kicked himself for not studying them more intently. Handling them as if they would crumble if they were moved to quickly, he pressed them into Miles' hand and jerked his head to the back door. Miles' followed his soundless order, moving immediately to the window, his hand skimming the top of the cabinets in search for the spare key.

As Lightning dashed up the stairs, the lights flickered, before a booming crash echoed from outside and the house plunged into darkness. He was in his room in a heartbeat and had crossed it with his gun pointing out the window before the next, expecting to see the lawn swarming with agents, only to find the medic sprawled on the ground, arms and legs askew, tangled up in still sparking wires.

"Wow, that was tingly"

The question never made it past his lips as the Prime turned to look at him apologetically, and Sam simply couldn't be bothered asking.

_That's definitely not something I've been trained for,_  He thought with a snort,  _how to deal with overcharged NBE Medics._

"Okay, we got the glasses, Miles is getting a spare key to unlock the back door, he'll meet you out there and-"he suddenly cut himself off, his eyes truly taking in the state of the lawn. "-did you step on my fountain?"

Suddenly, his optics darted down to the ruined fountain, then back to Sam. "Opps, my bad?" Optimus ventured embarrassedly.

Sam went to speak several times, his mouth opening and shutting like a fish, before eventually making a slashing gesture through the air, signifying the end of the conversation. He turned back to Mikeala, still shaking his head disbelievingly, slipping his gun back in his pocket. "Come on Mik-"

His words died in his throat as his gaze fell on the smooth wooden box in her hands, then flicked up to meet her own shocked one...

* * *

_She moved over to the shelves, pulling random astrology books out of the way and pushing aside some papers, her fingertips trailing across the different items until they skimmed a smooth oak box, about the size of a shoebox. Thinking Sam could have put the glasses in there for safe keeping, the girl pulled it down and sat on the surprisingly made bed, tracing the top of it. Outlined across the top was a name._ Judy _, and a border of twisting veins and leaves surrounded it. Prising it open, Mikeala expected the glasses, a few bits and bobs, even a few, ahem, 'special' pictures._

_That wasn't what she found._

_The box was filled with photographs of a young family. A man and woman, late thirties at most, a little girl, about eight, and finally a little boy, no more than six at the very most. The little boy was so strange, so unfamiliar, so different that it was only the name scrawled in feminine script that told her who it was._

Me, Ron, Sophie and Sam, August 1993.

_Sam. Mikeala's mouth fell open in shock as she tried to line up the pictures of the bright eyed three year old and the seemingly untouchable seventeen year old. It took a few minutes, but she soon began to see._

_He had his mother's eyes. Not the colour, but the shape. And his mother's hair colour. He had his father's nose and lips though, and, if she looked and thought hard enough, his smile. His sister was more like his father, with curly brown hair and deep brown eyes._

_Mikeala riffled through some more of the photo's, only to pause slightly when she felt something heavy. Lifting the top layer of photos, she came across a small bottler, no bigger than a hipflask, half-full with a clear liquid. Quickly unscrewing the lid, she sniffed, jerking back in surprise at the sharp, burning smell of vodka. Her eyes widened and her fingers trembled slightly as she sealed it. She flipped through some more layers, until she came to a long thin box, like the type you would get a watch in. She opened it, and honestly stopped breathing for a second at the sight of the needle inside. The box closed with a large_ snap!  _and she_   _tried hastened to bury it once more, only for her fingers to brush over a cold, smooth piece of metal. With a feeling of dread clenching in her stomach, she uncovered a small, thin blade, something that resembled a letter opener and she would have passed it without a thought, if it wasn't for the small splash of rusty red-brown near the hilt. Finger trembling, she shoved it under the layers of photographs, trying to cover it up as the house plunged into darkness..._

* * *

_Snap!_

He slammed the lid down, and, not meeting her eyes, pulled the box from her hands and leaned down, pulling a large metal box out from under his bed, and threw it in. He rose fluidly and this time met her gaze dead on, not a hint of emotion in his eyes, feeling the questions she hadn't voice, but was practically screaming, but ignoring them firmly, unable to meet her heartbroken face.

She had never spent days feeling like nothing more than a numb shell, with only that flash of pain telling her she was still alive. She had never spent nights were she would be stuck in a never-ending flashback of that cold, dark, cramped room, alone, abandoned and unwanted, with only the haze of narcotics being able to numb the memory. Or even mornings waking up, when she had dreamed all night of a burning world, were only the softening of alcohol could cushion the blow.

He didn't bother telling her he had been clean since he was sixteen.  _Because she had been there with Miles when they found him laying in a pool of his own blood, scattered bottles around him and his lips turning blue._

He didn't bother telling her he hadn't drank in binges like that since his own personal rehab.  _Their tear stained faces, their arms cradling their shattered brother as he poured his heart out to them._

He didn't bother telling her he hadn't  _truly_ hurt himself from his seventeenth birthday, that he was healing, slowly, but surely.  _He promised never again. Only the odd drink once a month, went through the killer withdrawals as he stopped cold turkey, but still putting a blade to his arm when it all became too much._

"I thought you had stopped."  _Heartbreak, fear, sibling love._

"I have."  _Guilt, anger, weakness._

She reached out and gently pushed up the sleeve on his arm, fingers tracing the old, thin scars and the newer, shaky ones. There was a second of silence, and he wrenched his arm away, trying to shove away the feeling of  _weakness_  that spread through him.

He jerked his head to the door and she rose silently, unable to meet his eyes and passed him, leading the way down the stairs and into the kitchen to where Miles was fiddling with a key chain of about forty keys, attempting to get one of them into the stubborn lock.

So distracted they were, they failed to notice that the Autobots had gone suddenly deathly quiet.

_Rap Rap Rap Rap._

Someone knocked insistently on the door. Mikeala waited for a second, but when neither of the boys moved, she left the kitchen and made her way into the hall, riffling through drawers to find the front door keys.

" _What are we going to do?"_  Lightning hissed under his breath to Miles, clasping his dagger tightly, eyes flashing with a small, almost hidden sliver of fear.

" _I have_ no  _idea"_  Blaze admitted, his own terror making his voice pitch slightly.

" _How the Pit are we going to get them onto HQ? In fact, never mind them, how the Pit will_ we _get into HQ?"_ Lightning murmured under his breath, finger tracing the granite counter absentmindedly, sketching a plan of HQ from memory across it. Blaze shrugged once more, his own thoughts racing at the mere thought of being anywhere near that place again. Coming to the last few keys he suddenly froze when Lightning's hand was painfully tight on his shoulder and his lips was to his ear.

" _Is it just me,"_  he whispered coldly, his eyes staring straight out the window,  _"Or has it suddenly got very, very quiet"_

A beam of light, similar to a torchlight, cut through the darkness of the kitchen. Both Lightning and Blaze dropped to the ground and rolled in opposite directions, Blaze to the backdoor and Lightning to the kitchen. Blaze pressed a finger to his lips and brought his hands up to where they were invisible to the agents outside, but visible to Lightning. He spread his left hand flat, and placed his right fist on top of the back of his hand, flaring his fingers out suddenly.

' _How many?'_  He signed over, as Lightning had the clear vantage point to see out the window. He received four fingers turned up.

' _Four. Okay, four we can take-'_  Blaze's embarrassingly optimistic thought were cut off when Lightning scanned the darkened garden through the window, made a sharp gesture and tapped on the back of his right hand twice with two fingers from the left, then held up three fingers.

_Thirteen._

Plans flew through Blaze's mind, his eyes far away as he brought the birds-eye view of the Witwicky family house to the front of his mind, possible exit paths snaking through the house and surrounding lawn, only to disappear when Lightning made another sharp gesture.

Four taps on the back of his right hand, then one finger held up. His left thumb and index finger made a circle against the back of his right hand. His right hand then curled into a fist and thumped against the back of his left, then flattened out, sliding across his hand.

_Twenty-one. Surrounded. Stay low._

Blazed manoeuvred his way across the kitchen floor, ducking down low to avoid being seen and joined Lightning at the kitchen door.

"Plan?" he breathed into his ear, reaching behind the wall that divided the kitchen and living room, pulling open a well used drawer and snagging a few boxes of bullets and experimental gadgets from it.

"Up the stairs, into the attic. Out the top window. Hit the ground running and don't look back. If separated, rendezvous at Lookout. Aim to injure, deadly force if necessary. No diversions." The Elite Alpha ordered sharply, loading his gun and grabbing a few jade cubes from Blaze's grasp. When thrown, the cubes would expand rapidly and explode, not enough to injure anyone, but enough distract. Blaze nodded and, with a soft, "go", both Elite's shot from their hiding space, darting across the kitchen like twin shadows and into the hall. They were on the first step of the stairs when they heard it.

_Rap Rap Rap Rap._

"I heard you the first time, give me a second!" Mikeala demanded irritably. Sam and Miles came to an abrupt stop and glanced at one another in horrified realization. They had slipped back into their Elite persona, and as Elite's, they only ever had to worry about their partner.

They had forgotten Mikeala.

Swivelling around on their heels, they were momentarily blinded by the sudden return of the lights. Blinking the stars from their eyes, they skidded into the front hall; just a Mikeala was putting the key into the lock.

"Mikeala NO!-"

"-Don't open the!-"

Too late.

They jerked back, hidden by the corner as Mikeala opened the door and looked up into the impassive face of Seymour Simmons.

"Yes?"

"Miss Mikeala Banes?" Mikeala jerked at the mention of her name, immediately going onto defence.

"Yeah. Who are you?"

"We're the government. Sector Seven." The greying man flashed a shiny silver badge at her, and the hackles on the back of her neck rose. She peered at the badge itself, gazing at the symbol in the middle and was unable to shake the idea that sheen had seen it before somewhere. Snapping out of her daze, she met his blank stare, eyes narrowed.

"Never heard of it."

"Never will" he shot back.

He stepped a little closer to the door, his own eyes narrowed. "May I enter the premises, ma'm? Seeing as you are trespassing on private property, I really don't see any way you can refuse, so thank you." He sneered at her as he pushed past her, followed by three other men in black suits.

"What are you talking about, I was invited here by a friend. This is his house" She spat back, arms crossed tightly as he smirked and laugh coldly. His eyes flicked to the sofa and round the room, taking in the pictures of the Witwicky's in slight puzzlement. ' _Why would they still be up with a bunch of squatters here?'_ he mused to himself, before shaking himself out of his distraction.

"I highly doubt that. Get me a sample and some isotope readings." The first part was at Mikeala, they second directed to the goons flanking him, who nodded and moved outside.

"We need to talk to your 'friend'. We think he's involved in a national security matter."

"National security?" Trying to hide the rising panic in her chest, Mikeala raised an eyebrow at him incredulously, then lurched away when he produced a small torch out of thin air and flashed it into her eyes.

"Are you experiencing any flu-like symptoms? Aching joints? Fever?" he fired off the questions rapidly, giving her almost no time to respond.

"What, no!"

Ignoring her outburst, Simmons grabbed her arm in not a painful, but still tight hold. "Okay miss, you're coming with me-"

"Hey, get your hands off me!"

"That's enough, now come-"

"Get your hands off her."

Simmons froze, allowing Mikeala to wiggle out of his now-slack hold and dash over to Sam and Miles, who quickly converged in front of her, blocking her from view. Silence blanketed the room as the two teens stared down Simmons, both parties refusing to look away. Simmons' eyes flickered over Miles, only slightly surprised to see him there. When S-7 had got the transmission to his phone, they had been sure Blaze was involved somehow, and were almost expecting him to be at the house, thus the reason for added security.

It was Lighting he couldn't look away from. His chin was raised, the scar that tore down from his eye was now faded to a long, thin white line that curved under said chin. He was still slim and small and even though he was dressed in civilian clothing, Simmons could still see the aura of power he had carried with him when he wore his mask and cloak, telling him that he was still as up-to-date with his Elite skills as the day he had 'died'. Their eyes met and he could see the defiance in his eyes, the glint of protectiveness for both the girl and his partner there. Agent Riley slipped through the still-open door, moved to Simmons side and whispered in his ear,

"I think direct con...tact..."

Riley trailed off at the sight of the widely believed dead, dishonoured Elite. His mouth opened and closed as he grasped his gun, ready to pull it out at the first sign of movement.

"But-but that, that's-"

"What's going on? How do they know you?" Mikeala whispered into Sam's ear, hands trembling slightly. What the two tarnished Elites did next shocked the agents into silence once more.

Sam relaxed his shoulder, though his eyes were still tight, and pulled a very convincing confused expression across his face.

"I have no idea." He admitted, still sounding very unsure. "I mean, these guys are from the government, I'm just a civilian." He shrugged his shoulder, hands spread, but his eyes still locked with the agents.  _Play along,_  they whispered. And for some reason, not understanding why, they did.

"Yeah guys, what's with the Men-In-Black getup? Ohhh, do you want us to look at a flashing silver stick?" Miles laughed, also playing along with Sam's plan, his own emotions locked behind his blank eyes.

"S-Step forward son." Simmons muttered, lifting up the Geiger counter, not at all surprised when it suddenly screamed 14 Rads.

"Fourteen Rads. Tag them and bag them." He whispered, dark brown eyes never moving from Sam's electrical blue.

Riley mumbled something into his PADD and suddenly, as if he had conjured them up, two more men in black stood behind him. They had the now increasingly common look of stupefied shock as they regarded the two boys, but were quickly snapped out of it with Riley's bark of a command.

Mathews moved forward, pausing slightly as he moved past Sam, making sure to never turn his back on him. He paused once more when he came face-to-face with Miles, who still stood in front of the girl motionlessly, arms folded and wired tightly, ready to spring into action. Their eyes locked, and Mathews could see the hard, unflinching promise in them.

_You will regret this._

Their gazes broke when Blaze's flicked to Lightning. The Alpha turned away from Simmons and gave a small, barely noticeable slow nod and the Beta followed, moving slightly to the side, allowing the agent to handcuff the girl.

"Miles? Sam? what's-"

"Don't worry 'keala," Sam soothed the confused and scared girl, his eyes warm and honest, "everything will turn out okay." He promised, sending a chill of foreboding up the agents' spines.

Jacobs moved next slowly approaching Blaze. The blonde Elite stared him down unflinchingly, then turned his back on him, wrists pressed together. The agent snapped the cuffs on, and turned him, leading him to the door and over to the other agent and his charge, watching every move the blonde made warily, waiting for the attack that wasn't going to come.

Finally, Riley approached Lightning. The teen watched him with bored eyes as the agent moved forward, smirking when he hesitated. Steeling his nerve, Riley moved around and quickly handcuffed the infamous Elite, one of his hands pressing into the small of Lightning's back, the other grasping his hair tightly. With a still dumbstruck nod, Simmons took point, leading the three out.

The agents and chiefs stiffened when Blaze's closed off face came into view, hands flying to PADDs, about to spread the news, whispers breaking out like wildfire among them. Miles smirked to himself as both he and Mikeala were pushed into one of the SUV's.

_Three..._

_Two..._

_One..._

Silence.

Shocked, confused, horrified silence clogged the S-7 workers as Lightning was led from the house. It was years since they last saw his face, but when he looked up, that scar and those burning, hellfire eyes seared them, consolidating it to them that the most infamous, dangerous Elite S-7 had ever seen was in fact alive. No-one moved, no-one spoke, no-one even _breathed_  until the copper-haired teen smirked at them, eyes challenging them to say something.

The moment he did, the silence shattered.

The agents that had froze burst into action, hands darting to weapons, covering Sam in what seemed like hundreds of tiny red dots, while other hands flew to wrists and the whisper was echoed, both outside the house, up and down the street, back to HQ and to every Elite on a mission around the world.

" _He's alive. Lightning survived the storm."_


	12. Houston, We Have A Problem

The silence was thick, unbreakable and unbearable. The SUV's the three teens were held in was surrounded by three others, closed in all sides bar the front. They had at first attempted to place Lightning in a car of his own, surrounded by Elites.

Keyword:  _Attempted_.

Every time, it began the same way. They pulled him from the SUV.

Every time, he ended up sitting in it again. Either he managed to twist himself out of his captors grasp, or he would materialize out of the locked car and stroll back to the SUV containing his partner and civilian friend. Eventually, they realised that time was of the essence, and gave in to his demands to travel with them.

Thus, the SUV contained; a civilian with a juvie record ; An 'outcast' Elite; An Alpha with a questionable history; a disgraced Elite with a personal vendetta against the final party in the car and a so-called 'traitorous, highly dangerous, long thought-dead' Elite.

"Talk about awkward" Miles had muttered under his breath when the car had first started, being the first and only one to utter a word.

The SUV sped through the rapidly darkening streets of Tranquillity in complete silence, only fractured every now and again as Simmons inspected Miles's phone, holding it up to the light. There was a clear, almost visible divide between the front and back seat, between those loyal to S-7 and the Autobot allies, who were currently trying to communicate without alerting their once-familiars.

_Tap-Tap-T-Tap (What do we do?)_

_Tap-T-T-T-Tap-Tap-Tap (stay with S-7, we can get into HQ with no effort)_

_Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap-Ta- (you have a death wh-)_

"Will you stop that freaking excessive foot-tapping!" Mikeala snarled under her breath, somehow managing to glare at  _both_  boys out of the corner of her eyes, shifting uncomfortably, and trying to keep her weight off the cold, unforgiving handcuffs that bound her wrists behind her back. Flicking her hair from her eyes, lips barely moving, she hissed, "Are you ever going to tell me what the hell is going on?"

The Elite's shared a look, and then Miles leaned over, his lips to her ear, blonde hair falling in a curtain to stop Thunder from lip-reading via the rear-view mirror. "Can't tell you now, but go along with  _everything_  we say. No. Matter. What. Okay?" he breathed, urgently urging Mikeala to drop it. Shaking her head, she went to argue when Simmons finally spoke.

"So," he drawled, turning in his seat to stare down the three teens, eyes analyzing them, "Lightning. Blaze. You're both alive. And have been very busy with a few NBE friends, haven't you?" The aforementioned Elites stared levelly back, and then dropped the 'confused' facade. "Eh, you can only live the civilian life for so long before you need to spice it up a little." Sam sent a razor-sharp smile back, while Miles remained impassive. Simmons's smiled stiffly and continued. "You're still working against the same cause as us though, so why don't we share some Intel?"

Any tiny trace of emotion drained from both Elite's faces as they leaned forward, teeth bared in a soundless snarl, "We are  _nothing_  like you." Miles spat, eyes narrowed in distaste.

"Yeah, well what do you make of this, hmmm? This was sent to  _your_  phone Blaze, and they are  _your_  words, Lightning. ' _we've got a code Alpha-Dash-Red, I repeat, an Alpha-Dash-red. Confirmed NBE...'"_  Sam voice cut off as Simmons paused the recording, something like triumph in his eyes. "You used Elite phrasing, Lightning. Don't try to deny it. No matter how hard you try to pretend, you are still an Elite at heart."

Sam's mouth twisted as he sneered at the Alpha, hands straining against the cuffs. "I cannot be an Elite at heart, they don't have one." "Shut your goddamn mouth you traitorous little bastard!" Thunder barked, viciously glaring at the minor via the mirror, causing Sam to bark out a laugh at the Elite's fury. "Aww, is the big bad Elite still sore about the whole 'knocking-you-out-like-a-newbie' thing? Was the nasty director all cwoss?" He cooed out, as if speaking to a child, getting a thrill of satisfaction when the Elite viably tensed and silenced himself. Releasing a frustrated breath, Simmons attempted to steer the conversation back onto the right topic.

"So what do you kids know about the aliens, huh?"

Miles took up the bat this time, leaning back against the seat with a condescending smile, "Oh, you mean, like a Martian? Like what, E. T? No. Nothing. Sorry man", he smirked, not sounding very sorry at all.

"It's an urban legend." The silent-until-now Mikeala piped up, raising her chin confidently despite having the odd feeling of being in the middle of the ocean without a boat, never mind an oar. From what she had gathered from the conversation, Sam and Miles had been part of this 'alien hunter group thingy' and left, on very bad terms, and now the 'alien hunter group thingy' wanted to find the Autobots and for some reason, Mikeala didn't think it was to offer them an olive branch.

Unfortunately, her quip drew the attention of Simmons, who once again flashed the frustratingly familiar badge in her face as he glared at her, eyes hard and unforgiving.

"You see this? This is an 'I-can-do-whatever-I-want-and-get-away-with-it' badge. I'm gonna lock you up forever." He snapped, attempting to intimidate her.

Sadly for him, in the last few hours she had been; chased by a crazed cop; witnessed an alien droid death match; watched a berserk robot come back to life; met five aliens well over sixteen foot tall and learned there was a psycho evil warlord frozen on earth somewhere, just waiting to use earth's technology to take over the universe, so she wasn't exactly phased by a pompous jerk in black.

Before either boy could defend her, she rolled her eyes and drawled, "Oh, God. You know what? Don't listen to him. He's just pissy 'cause he's got to get back to guarding the mall."

While both boys sniggered, Simmons eyes darkened in anger.

"You, in the training bra, do not test me. Especially with your daddy's parole coming up." Judging by the cold, satisfied look in his eyes, he knew he cut deep.

"What? Parole?" Sam twisted to try and look Mikeala in the eye, despite her determinedly not meeting his. "It's nothing." She almost whispered, eyes on the floor and heat flooding her cheeks.

"Oh, grand theft auto, that ain't nothing?" The alpha threw back, clearly enjoying the ability to get one over on at least one of the teens.

"She's got her own juvie record to prove it! She's a criminal." Simmons jeered at her, his eyes flicking over her as he persisted, "Criminals are  _hot_. That'd be a real shame if he had to rot in jail the rest of his natural life."

Sam bumped his shoulder with Mikeala's, sending her a small, comforting smile as Miles cursed Simmons out, promising to do some things that  _had_  to be illegal in at  _least_  48 states.

Miles looked out through his window, only to find the lane next to theirs clear, the SUV that had been covering his side gone. Glancing out through the back window, he discovered the SUV that was tailing them was also gone, and a glimpse to the right told him that the one on Sam's side was too. Sending a confused glance to him, Sam replied with an equally mystified shrug, having no idea where the SUV's had got to.

_Click-click-click-clic-clic-cli-cl-c-c-c-c-c-_

Both Sam and Miles froze, their eyes locking on the once silent, now screaming Geiger counter that was being ignored by both S-7 workers, and ignoring Simmons, they gave eachother slow, sly smiles.

"It is time to talk!"

_WHAM!_

All five in the car flew forward as the SUV's bumper crumpled, their seatbelts cutting into their throats, their heads hitting the headrests as they flew backwards against the seats once more, desperately trying to catch their breaths, when two large metal hands reached in through the windows and slowly picked the car up by its roof.

Mikeala's cry of fright, the boys could understand. Simmons and Thunders' panicked shouting however...

Rolling his eyes, Sam threw his legs up, his feet crossed and resting on the front passenger seats' headrest. "Shift your weight towards the front." He calmly sing-songed, as if reminding a toddler to eat his peas if he wanted dessert.

There was a horrible crunching sound, a rush of cold air, a sudden stomach-lurching jolt, and then all five humans were looking up at the unimpressed face of Optimus Prime, who threw the car roof away as easily as throwing a paper ball.

"Gentlemen," the copper hair teen drawled, his voice thick with sarcasm at the use of the word, "I want to introduce you to my friend, Optimus Prime."

"Taking them by force was a bad move." The Peterbilt evenly stated, his optics flicking over the teens, checking for any injuries, his ire waning slightly when he found none bar tender wrists. He couldn't help but raise an optic-ridge when the three SUV's that he had Jazz and Ironhide distract came screeching to a stop and several humans in black jump out, waving-he scanned the shape and ran it through the internet, 'blinking' at the sheer thousands of images and references that were linked to it-waving handguns at him.

:  **Do they really thing those things can intimidate us? Pathetic. :**  Ironhide's 'voice' snorted across the commlink, shaking his head as he slipped through the lean poles of the bridge Optimus was facing.

:  **Well 'Hide, they are a few millennia behind us :** Jazz grinned, looping his way over the bridge also.

"Autobots, relieve them of their weapons."

**: Sure thing, boss bot! :**

**:**   **Acknowledged Prime :**

**: With pleasure, sir :**

**: On your order, Prime:**

Ironhide jumped, hitting the ground with a ground shaking crash, causing most of the S-7's to stumble slightly, while Jazz did a few fancy flips and landed almost noiselessly. Bumblebee and Ratchet landed basically the same way, and the four mech moved forwards, coming to form a lose semi-circle around the humans. With a warm hum, Ironhide's cannons glowed ominously as he snapped at the humans to stay still, while with a simple flick of the wrist, the guns flew from their hands and into Jazz's.

Optimus knelt down to come face-to-face with Simmons, who held his hands in the air and let out a soft, squeaky, shaky "Hi?"

As he studied the man in front of him, Optimus realised that he was not shocked to see them. Surprised and a little bit apprehensive, but not shocked, almost expecting. While most of the other agents showed fear, a few showed excitement, their eyes flashing with anticipation for something that made the regal bot edgy.

"You don't seem afraid. Are you not surprised to see us?" He finally asked, optics narrowed slightly. The man in front of him swallowed loudly and stammered slightly as he answered.

"Look, there are Seven protocols, okay? I'm not authorized to communicate with you...except to tell you I can't communicate with you." He reeled off, as if memorised from a script. His tone set Optimus' denta on edge, the bored, patronizing drawl reminding him of the corrupt senators back in Iacon, long before the war.

"Get out of the car." He growled, servo twitching slightly in an attempt to control his temper. Simmons looked back up at him uncomprehendingly, causing the bot's temper to spike slightly. Was he not speaking clear understandable English?

"All right. Me? You want me to get..."

"Now!" Optimus finally barked, venting as the agents jumped, clambering out of the car, while Simmons still continued to ramble.

"All right, I'm... I'm getting out. I'm getting out. You see? Very nifty how you put us down without really killing us."

**: Primus, does this guy ever shut up? :** Ratchet snarked, already growing tired of the man.

Sam smiled pleasantly back at agent Riley as he opened the door for him, allowing him to step out of the ruined car. "Thanks mate" He called over his shoulder as he made his way around the front of the car to where Mikeala and Miles stood, ignoring the man's spluttering with a grin. Leaning against the ruined bonnet of the car, he bent down slightly and stepped out over the handcuffs, lifting them up to his chest so they were in his direct sight. He grabbed his dagger out of his thigh holster,  _lost points there boys. Just 'cause the guy your arresting was thought dead doesn't mean you don't frisk him_ , he thought distractedly as he fiddle with the lock on the handcuffs, grinning at the tell-tale click of freedom. Glancing over, he realised that Miles and Mikeala were already freed.

"You're good with handcuffs, too, now, huh?" he smiled, trying to ease the tension and soothing the already pushed-beyond-her-limits girl, but instead doing the opposite as she lashed out at him.

"Sam, I have a record because I wouldn't turn my dad in. When have you had to sacrifice anything in your perfect little life?"

Almost the second the words were out, she wished she could take them back, as not only the image of the smooth wooden box came to mind, but Sam also jerked back as if she had hit him. Mikeala, for the second time in the night, covered her mouth and tried to stutter out apologies, only to be cut off by Sam's hand, which lifted in a 'HALT' sign. There was a second of freezing silence as Sam recovered himself and looked into her eyes, his own chips of ice.

"Do not assume  _anything_ about me." He warned, his voice chilling as he turned on his heel and marched over to where Simmons was still rambling on to the increasingly frustrated bots.

"What is Sector Seven? Answer me." Sam's irritation flared as he glared at Simmons. Simmons answered with a glare at his own, his own voice rising to a shout.

"I'm the one who asks questions around here. Not you, young man!" He hollered into Sam's face, though with his hands still in the air, the result wasn't quite as threatening as he had hoped.

"How'd you know about the Autobots?" Sam fired off, honestly curious as to how S-7's tracking abilities had evolved in the last three years.

"Where did you take my dog?" Miles snapped, throwing Sam's incredulous look away with a flick of his hand.

Simmons' head darted between the two enquiries like watching a tennis match, struggling to answer their demands. "I am not at liberty to discuss it."

"No?" Eyebrow raised, Sam leaned forward, hand outstretched.

"Hey. You touch me, that's a federal offense." Panic sparked in Simmons' eyes at the gesture, the 7 workers froze, all eyes on the slim hand that reached forward...and plucked the ID pinned to Reggie's chest off it. The hand withdrew, the air – _when did it get so cold?_ \- warmed and the workers relaxed minutely. Turning, Sam and Miles studied the badge, snorting slightly at all the bullshit legal crap. "Do-whatever-you-want-and-get-away-with-it badge, right?"

"Yeah. Brave now all of a sudden, with his big alien friend standing over there." Simmons muttered under his breath, his eyes flicking up to the patiently waiting Prime, flinching back when he moved his neon gaze from the conversing teens to him.

"Where is Sector Seven?" Mikeala broke her silence, glancing up from the badge to the owner, getting a sneer in return.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

Simmons felt a soft thunk on the back of his neck, a fuel cap rolling at his feet. Then he found himself being drenched in a warm wave, a sickening smell of diesel rising from him. Suddenly, the pieces fell into place and the nauseated Alpha shuddered and yelped.

"Bumblebee, stop lubricating the man." The goddamn alien was laughing at him! Simmons shook with suppressed rage as the oh so noble NBE 'scolded' the yellow bug, but with a trace of laughter in his voice, while the other NBE's chuckled. Mikeala tried to smother her giggles with her hand, Miles laughed out loud and Sam allowed a grin and a soft chuckle to escape.

A few minutes later, the 7 workers sat side by side on the ground, their wrists handcuffed together as the teens went from worker to worker, smiling at the venomous glares they received.

Riley and Simmons were the only ones who still stood, Riley's hands cuffed around a pole while Simmons still stood with his hands still in the air.

**: Why has he got his hands in the air? :**  Ratchet finally asked, confused as to why the man still hadn't lowered them, and as to why he had raised them in the first place.

**: I dunno, maybe it's some sorta culture thingy? :** Jazz shrugged in reply, still watching the three teens with interested optics.  **: Oh, this looks fun! :** He called, tilting his head over to Mikeala and Simmons.

"All right, tough guy, take it off."

"What are you talking about?"

"Your clothes, all of it, off."

"For what?"

"For threatening my dad."

Ironhide ducked his head in grudging admiration,  **: little Femme's got spunk :**. Ratchet nodded, only to narrow his optics as he listened in to what the human was snarling.

"Little lady, this is the beginning of the end of your life. You're a criminal. Let's face facts. It's in your gene pool. I will hunt you down, okay? Without  _any_  remorse!"

The first part was directed at the girl, the second at the two boys who stood behind her, staring calmly back at him.

**: Is he threatening** _ **children?**_ **:** The medic yelped, his mouth falling slightly open. Threatening a  _child_? What sort of backward race was this, that let a grown man threaten those junior to himself and his peers say nothing?

**: I'm not really sure you can call them children, Ratch'. :** Jazz mused, tapping his chin with his claw. Ironhide's cry of "Incoming!" to Optimus saved Ratchet from asking what on Cybertron Jazz was talking about.

Within seconds, most of the First Command had transformed and were skidding out of the isolated car park. Kneeling down, Optimus opened a palm to the three, letting them scramble on and placed them on his shoulder. Sam twisted like a gymnast, hooking one arm through Optimus' antenna and another around the trembling Mikeala's waist.

"I hate heights" she managed to whisper, and Sam nodded absentmindedly, rubbing soothing circles on her arm.

As the searchlight from the S-7 helicopter's that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere blinded the humans, it took a second for Sam to realise just what was happening and he had to fight down the bizarre urge to laugh. Optimus was sprinting down a crowed street, ducking into alleyways and generally leaving a lot of dumbstruck people to stare after him. Peeking over at Miles, he saw that his brother was laughing slightly hysterically. Miles saw his look and mouthed over to him,

_So much for national security!_

They skidded under a large stone bridge; Optimus jerking back as the searchlight almost caught him. His optics flipped up to the underbelly of the bridge, and then he reached up.

Mikeala's soft "Eep!" was muffled by Miles' hand as Optimus pulled himself up and lay almost horizontally across the underside of the bridge. The teens breaths froze, the bots intake silenced as the helicopters flew directly under them once...twice...

Just when they thought they were safe, a foot slipped.

With a soundless scream, Mikeala plunged.

Sam's leg flew back, his foot snagged in around Optimus' antenna as he lunged forward. His hand shot out, centimetres...millimetres...locked. His hand locked around Mikeala's wrist, the sharp jolt causing his arm to pop from its socket with a sickening crack, but the pain was pushed away, ignored. Mikeala scrabbled at his sleeve as his other arm moved down to grab her shoulder, trying to comfortingly shush her panicked pleads. Miles grabbed Sam's jean-clad leg and started to haul, only for his still wet feet to slip across Optimus' smooth metal finish. Like Mikeala, he plunged, his own foot catching Sam's leg and accidentally untangling his foot.

**One second**

The three teens dropped like stones, Miles throwing out his hands and legs to try and slow his fall, Sam twisting to wrap Mikeala in his arms while she buried her head into his chest with a strangled sob.

**Two seconds**

As the ground started to grow closer, the seventeen year olds started to close their eyes, only for a flash of metal to block their vision.

**Three seconds**

Sam spun, his back slamming into Optimus' foot, causing the teen to let out a strangled gasp. Miles slammed into it chest first then cart wheeled through the air backwards, the ground still looming closer.

**Four seconds**

A flash of yellow and they were snagged mid-air, Miles in one of Bumblebee's servos, Sam and Mikeala in the other. The yellow bot set them down carefully, and without a word being exchanged, Miles moved to Sam's side and clicked his arm back into the socket with no more response than a sharp intake of breath. Bumblebees lurched to his feet as the helicopters swung around and shot toward the four.

Mikeala's eyes darted from helicopter to helicopter, screaming swears at them as one of the pilots took aim and fired, a long metal spear erupting from it, a spiel of rope following it and wrapping around Bumblebee's servo. A second, third and fourth followed, bring the yellow bot to the ground with a cry.

" _Chopper One, this is Chopper Two, are you seeing this?"_

" _Confirmed Chopper Two, we have undesirable agents Blaze and Lightning locked"_

" _Chopper One...is agent Lightning singling for us to desist?"_

" _Chopper Two that is confirmed, undesirable agent Lightning is attempting to help the NBE."_

" _What should our actions be, Chopper One?"_

" _...Unknown."_

Miles head snapped from left to right, four SUV's on either side growing closer and closer, gaining speed. He lurched around to Sam, whose arms dropped.

"What do we do?" Miles screamed, his fear finally getting the better of him. "Lighting, what. Do. We.  _Do_?" He looked to his older brother, waiting for him to turn and smile and say everything was going to be okay...

Sam turned; his eyes dull; hopelessness clear on his face, and shook his head slowly. He didn't even blink as he was tackled from behind, an unknown Elite slamming him to the ground. Mikeala was handled with more care, simply put back into cuffs by a female Elite with blazing green eyes, while Miles was being subdued by the second Elite on the night Sam recognized, Cobra twisting his arm behind his back.

Agents poured from the cars, half of which darting towards the still struggling form of Bumblebee, sending blasts of dry ice at the scout, causing him to cry out at the temperature drop.

That's when Sam snapped.

With a fierce snarl, his head smashed back against the Elite holding him, flipping himself off the ground and spinning, smashing his foot into the wave-covered mask. He shot through the Elites, slamming into the mixture of Alpha's, Elites and Chief's, using their own surprise against them. The Elites hidden in the shadows, waiting for this to happen, suddenly found themselves frozen in shock. Even though they knew that Lightning had betrayed them, it was still a kick in the teeth to actually see him fighting against their own men to help the NBE. It was only when he managed to wrestle the dry ice blaster from hands of a  _seriously_  incompetent Alpha did they truly realise the danger.

Twister, Breeze and Rapture shot forward, their combined weight bringing the kicking and biting Undesirable to the ground. While there he met Bumblebee's desperate gaze and tried to tell him, without speaking, that he was okay and everything would turn out fine.

With a sharp jerk, he was hauled backwards, nails digging into his shoulders and heels dragging across the ground. The only pause was when he came in line with Simmons, who smirked down at him. "Happy to see me again?"

Sam spat in his face, teeth barred and eyes practically glowing. The smirk faded from Simmons' eyes as he looked down at Sam's battered form from the manhandling from the other Elites, and for a second, something that looked close to guilt flickered in his eyes before it was chased away.

"Put him in a car with his little criminal friend. I want that thing frozen and ready for transport!" He ordered the Twister, then called another Alpha's, who nodded, gesturing at the NBE to the other Alphas sharply.

Sam was forced into the SUV beside Miles and Mikeala. They turned to look at him, their unofficial leader, for help, for orders, for anything.

He looked away, resting his pounding head against the blissfully cool window and trying to close his ears to Bumblebee's now exhausted cries...

* * *

The drive only took about ten minutes, before they pulled into a lone, seeming abandoned airfield. A few minutes later, they were pushed into a large, open air helicopter. The three teens crammed into one side, while two other people, a twenty-something blue-eyed blonde and a larger tanned man beside her. The first twenty-five minutes of the thirty minute flight was spent in silence, before Miles again finally broke the silence.

"So."

"What'd they get you for?" The now confirmed Australian asked, her eyes flicking over to the still slightly bloodied faced Sam.

"Bought a car", he started, eyes far away, "Turned out to be an alien robot. Who knew?" He finished with a humourless smile. The man beside the blonde gaped, his mouth forming a silent  _wow_.

He felt a soft poke in his side and looked over at Mikeala. She jerked her head to the side.

"Is that..."

"Yeah." Sam breathed, glancing down at the ground and over to Miles, who had suddenly went bone white.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the pilot called over the headsets, "welcome to the Hoover Dam, AKA, Sector Seven Headquarters."

They two Elite shared another glance as they looked down at their once training ground, their once home, the place they now called Hell.

"Agents Lightning and Blaze," the smirk and the smugness in the pilot's voice was easily heard,

"Welcome home."

 


	13. Blood Pressure Rising

This time, they had done a little better. They had stripped the Elites of all weapons, other than a concealed dagger in the sole of Sam's shoe and another in Miles' Doc Martin.

"Get out."

Blinking in the bright sunlight, the trio stumbled out of the car that brought them from the helicopter, Miles and Sam slightly off balanced due to the handcuffs that still enclosed their wrists. Slowly, they moved to the thick concrete wall that closed off the sheer drop of the dam. Mikeala barely glanced down as a wave of vertigo hit her, while both boys looked down, as if they could see through the concrete and look down at what was hidden beneath.

Sam's pocket shuddered as the youngling hidden there felt a strange, yet achingly familiar warmth coming from the ground beneath him. The thick walls of the dam stopped the energy hidden there being detected by older Cybertronians, but like young human children, sparklings and younglings could 'sense' higher energies. That much had been known for eons. The youngling's tiny optics peeked out over the top of Sam's pocket, and then the tiny youngling pulled himself out and swung onto the wall. Sam's heart jumped to his throat as the youngling tottered on the wall for a second. He twisted so the child was unseen, trying to struggle out of the cuffs just as the youngling carefully, deliberately, climbed off the wall and slid down the sharp drop. The teen lurched forward, ignoring his vertigo at the gut instinct of ' _protect the youngling'_ , only to be pulled back by the shoulders by a horrified Mikeala.  
"What the hell are you doing?" Her hushed whisper demanded as Sam still tried to see over the wall, his mind filled with panic. Miles moved in front of him and barked at him, the sharp Greek snapping Sam to attention. Sharp snaps flew through the air, and Sam finally calmed, comforted at Miles' promise the youngling had landed safely, just in time, as several masked Elites moved forward and started to guide the teens away from the wall, over to where the snow haired Secretary of Defence waited with a handful of camouflage coloured soldiers.

Will frowned, his eyes lingering on the three teenagers that were being dragged over to where he stood. All three were handcuffed, the blonde boy's lip was bleeding slightly and the girl had a shadow of a bruise on her cheek. The reddish haired boy in the middle was the largest cause of concern, his black wife-beater in tatters and his dark green camouflage trousers were stained with dirt and what looked like blood. Will felt Epps stiffen beside him, and out of the corner if his eye, he saw him visibly restrain himself from speaking. The captain tried to will himself to stay silent, but that will was broken when one of the masked men/women leading the kids shoved the red-haired boy, causing him to stumble slightly, their flat brown eyes showing their hate for the boy. Will couldn't explain it, his fists clenched, a wave of fury raced over him and he felt a barely-there tingle on his right cheek. "Why are they handcuffed?" His question was only loud enough for the SecDef to hear, causing him to break away from his rather irritated conversation with a lanky late-forties-something and look over at the teens, his eyes narrowing at the state they were in.

"Simmons! What kinda of operation are you running around here! Why are these kids in handcuffs?" The aging man barked, his patience wearing thin.

"These  _kids_  Mister Keller are involved with a matter of national security-"

"There is a group of eight Special Ops Rangers here, and they're not treated like a bunch of criminals! Do you think these teens are more dangerous than them?"

 _Yes!_  Simmons wanted to scream. But he knew, that if the SecDef even got a  _hint_  that S-7 were using children as Spies/Assassins/Special Ops...well, if that happened, that nice pension could be kissed goodbye. He struggled with himself for a moment, before finally giving the trio of Elites a nod and a grudging command to uncuff the kids. The three Elites' eyes showed their incredulity, then, brushing away his orders like they were specks of paper, they turned to look over their shoulders. The army captain followed their gazes, the search stopping when his eyes landed on a man on practically the other side of the dam, dressed all in black with pair of dark sunglasses covering his eyes. He was tall, and, if Will squinted, had hair that was once a similar colour to the tattered boy in front of him, but was now turning grey. The unknown man gave a single nod, and the three assassin look-a-likes immediately released the trio, causing Will to wonder just how the hell the man had been able to hear what Simmons and the SecDef had commanded.

Before the teens moved, the burliest masked man leaned down slightly to hiss something into the two boys' ears, which got him two, frankly, quite terrifying withering glares in return. The three teenagers made their way over to the rest of the group, the boys talking in hushed whispers, occasionally questioned by the girl. They stood beside Will for a second, and then the copper-haired boy, still rubbing his now bright red wrists, looked up at the army captain, and quietly gave a soft, "Thank-you."

Before Will got a chance to reply, there was a shout, and he turned to follow the three Masked men/women and the SecDef into the dam.

* * *

"Hey kid."

 _Count to three, and_ try  _not to hit him!_  Sam's mind ordered as he was stopped by someone he would have once called a confidant, perhaps even an uncle. He looked up at the blank face of Seymour Simmons, half his face obscured by the dark, uniform sunglasses.

"I think we got off to a bad...start, huh?"

Hidden by the glasses, Simmons' eyes scanned both Pyro and Kid, taking in every change that had taken place over the last three years, narrowing slightly at the various cuts and bruises that were both fresh and hadn't quite faded. Part of him wanted to scream at them for betraying S-7, for betraying their family. The other part wanted to hold them tight and never let them go; to promise that no-one would ever hurt his nephews again. He struggled with himself as he reached out and clasped Kid's shoulder, pushing down the surprising flash of hurt that came with the almost unnoticeable flinch.

"You must be hungry? You want a latte? HoHo? Double venti macchiato?"

"Where's my car?" Sam swiftly cut off Simmons' rambling, cutting straight to the point as usual. Taking a deep breath, Simmons went to answer, only for the words to die as he realised who now stood directly behind Sam.

"Son,"

One word. One syllable. That's all it took for Sam to completely freeze, for Miles to begin to tremble slightly, and for a well founded fear to curl in their middle's and choke up their throats. Slow, professional footsteps circled the trio, before coming to stand at Simmons' shoulder, mimicking his pose by crossing his arms and appraising the three in front of him through dark glasses. Sam swallowed, and then raised his chin to stare past Tom's glasses and meet the navy eyes behind. They simply gazed at one another for what seemed like hours, though it was only seconds, then Tom continued, his voice as even as ever.

"I need you to listen to me very carefully. People can die here." The heavy emphasis, long pause and unmoving gaze made the three teens to recognize just exactly who he was talking about when he said  _people_. Suddenly, a new feeling overcame their fear.

Protectiveness.

Mikeala moved away from Miles side so she was standing straight up, shoulders back and chin up. Miles mimicked her position, his expressive eyes turning flat, while Sam's eyes grew hard and his mouth pressed into a thin line. Tom realised his mistake the moment he made it. His attempt to scare the teenagers only increased their protectiveness for eachother. He hurried on, his voice seeming as cool as before, but an undercurrent of urgency ran through it.

"We need to know everything you know. We need to know it now."

"Okay"

Tom stared. Simmons gaped. The Elites within hearing distance froze. Tom blinked once, twice, then started to continue, only to be cut off by Sam once more.

"But first, I'll take my car, my dog. Maybe you should write that down." The condescending smirk that made Tom's blood boil was back again, and his attempt to cut the boy off was foiled again as Sam only raised his voice louder, enough to attract the slow moving small congregation of army Rangers.

"Oh, and her juvie record. That's got to be gone. Like, forever."

There was a moment of silence as Tom stared into his nep- no. As Tom stared into the traitorous Elite's hard, unmoving eyes. Then, he nodded.

"Come with me. We'll talk about your car."

Mikeala's 'thank-you' went unnoticed by a still gaping Simmons as they moved past him, catching up with the Rangers. After a few seconds, he shook his head.

"The man's an extortionist."

He would later deny there was ANY grudging admiration in his tone, or that he felt ANY amount of pride at how well Sam flipped things in his favour.

* * *

"Never did get your name, kid."

Will kept his tone even as the teen kept in step with him. He had learnt the other two's names, the blond boy was Miles and the girl was Mikeala. But the copper-haired boy had stayed silent. They walked a few more paces before Will got an answer.

"Sam. Sam Witwicky."

Will tilted his head and nodded, deciding to respect Sam's obvious need for quite as he worked something out and kept his silence, sending a slight glare at all the masked workers who stared at the boy beside him. After a few moments, he realised that he didn't need to do anything, as both Sam and Miles seemed to have it under control.

Miles' fingers were twitching, a nervous habit he had picked up from Melissa. He could feel the eyes of so many people heavy on him, could hear the whispers, the shocked, curious, terrified, lusty- _huh_? He glanced up quickly, his eyes landing on two girls standing in the corner. A quick look at the clasps on their cloaks told him they were Elites-in-training, in their second year, probably about sixteen. When his eyes met theirs, they... _giggled_? and flushed, whispering in each other's ear. There was a disgusted snort beside him, and he met Mikeala's dark glare.

"What's up with them?" He whispered, nodding at the girls. Mikeala rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Obviously they like a bad boy."

Miles' eyebrow quirked, he straightened and flashed a smile at the girls, running his hands through his hair. A sudden pain shot through his foot, and he glared at Sam's back.

"Stop flirting. If you have to make eye contact, make it with the one who either about to pass out or want to dismember us the hard way."

Rolling his eyes, Miles pulled a face at his back, but followed his Alpha's command, unable stop the grin that was spreading across his face. As they moved further into the complex, their guide led them past rooms filled with Plankton; Alphas; Chiefs and Elites alike. The aforementioned would immediately stop anything and everything that they were doing to get a glimpse of the infamous Lightning. When their eyes fell on the two Elites, they would receive a smirk, a glare, a wink or a quirked eyebrow in response, causing many cases of spluttering, gulping, blushing and coughing, causing the two boys to have a small skip in their step.

The temperature dropped suddenly, and they found themselves face to...well, foot, with a towering NBE, the once High Protector of Cybertron, the now Decepticon Warlord, Megatron.

"Dear God. What is this?" the SecDef walked forward, his face almost as white as his hair, followed by the silent Rangers. Flicking his eyes over, Miles was happy to see Mikeala, while scared, still stood firm and approached the 'Con, causing his respect for her to jump. Looking over, her noticed that Sam was taking in everything, his eyes never resting, darting from the NBE-Con,  _Con!_ \- to the computers, to the Director, to the humans and then back again.

"We think when he made his approach over the North Pole, our gravitational field screwed up his telemetry..."

With practiced ease, Miles tuned out the story he had know off by heart since he was nine, turning his mind to observing the room, taking note of the changes to the larger hanger with a detached mind.

"We call him NBE One..."

Computers had been updated,  _finally_ , some new staff...

"Well, sir, I don't mean to correct you on everything you think you know,"

The walls had been replaced a few times, the cyro-containment methods had been edited and  _WHAT_?

His hand wrapped around Sam's upper arm, pulling the boy back with a jerk and a quick hiss of " _What the HELL are you doing?"_

Sam merely shook the restraining hand off and continued, taking another small step towards the monster.

"but, I mean, that's Megatron. He's the leader of the Decepticons."

 _Please,_  he pleaded silently,  _please remember what I told you..._

* * *

"Lightning, you requested for my presence. Will you release the required information now?"

Tom looked at the Elite handcuffed to the leg of the police interrogation-style table, his back to the large, two-way mirror. The fourteen year old boy looked at him, his eyes dark and circled by a large purple-green-and-yellow bruise, and shook his head.

"I've already spoke of the subject. I will tell you neither the whereabouts of the Sparklings, nor the whereabouts of Blaze." His words were slow, spoken in the tongue of old, as all Elite's are taught, careful and as precisely as one can with a split lip.

"Then what do you want!" Tom's fist slammed against the table as his frustration peaked.

"I have spoken of it many moons before. The war you fight is only a half, there is another-"

"Silence! I will not have this-"

"Uncle, please see sense! I speak of two fractions, of the Autobots and the Decepticons-"

"Enough!"

"But I speak the truth-!"

Tom slashed his hand downwards. His palm collided with Lightning's cheek with a loud crack, the sting of betrayal that was twisted with the hit sharper to Lightning than the slap. The hand then curled through his hair and slammed his face down against the table, scarlet bursting from his nose and mouth with a sickening crack and a soft, pained gasp. His uncle held him there, face pressed hard against the table and hissed,

"You better speak of the location of the ones you hide, for my patience grows weak."

With that, he let go and stepped back, signalling to the Elites hidden behind the glass to storm the room and pull Lightning to his feet, re-handcuff and drag him from the room, still protesting.

* * *

The monster looked back at him, and then continued, "He's been in cyrostasis since 1935."

The tiny sliver of hope that had risen in Sam died once more.

"Your great-great-grandfather made one of the greatest discoveries in the history of mankind."

 _Ah_ , he thought with a sarcastic smile,  _guilt trip for 'betraying' my 'family'. I always loved this part._

Simmons continued onwards, describing to those not in the know what exactly Megatron's purpose was. Sam blinked as Simmons suddenly thrust his face close to his, now visible brown eyes furious and a little bit sad. "That's what we call it."

Squashing down the completely undeserved speck of guilt, Sam turned to Miles and Mikeala, immediately asking their opinions on where to go from there. The teens blocked out the SecDef's angry questioning, only snapping back to attention at the Army Ranger Captain's innocent,

"Why Earth?"

"It's the Allspark." The whispered sentence was meant for Will's ears only, but in the somehow quite room, the statement carried.

"All Spark? What is that?" SecDef spun to stare at the young boy, wanting information from someone other than a man who would only give half-baked answers. The teen shared a glance with the blonde boy, his lips barely moving as he asked him something. There was a pause, then the blonde nodded, and the other boy looked back at him, and John Keller was struck by how  _old_ the boy seemed.

"Well, yeah, they came here looking for some sort of cube-looking thing. Anyway, Mr. NBE One here, AKA  _ **Megatron**_ , that's what they call him,"

The giant alien's name was heavily empathised and accompanied by a knowing look. Simmons glared back at the boy, his retort only halted by the Director's warning gaze. After a pause, the boy continued.

"-who's pretty much the harbinger of death, wants to use the Cube to transform human technology to take over the universe. That's their plan."

"And you're sure about that?"

"Yeah- You guys know where it is, don't you?" The two boys quickly schooled their faces into 'Oh. My. God!' expressions, convincing enough to convince the non S-7 members that they had no idea of this fact, despite the fact that The Cube/Allspark was Lightning's main focus.

"Follow me."

As the groups started down a very familiar path, Sam lagged back, falling to the back of the group. He was only alone for a few seconds before she was there.

He continued walking, determinedly not looking in her direction. After a few seconds of silence, his will finally broke.

"Allspark. Ally Sparks. Seven years Ally, in all that time, would it have been so hard for you to say, 'Oh, hey Sam, you know the way only you can see me? That's because I'm an ancient alien artefact! Ain't that wacky!'"

He glared over at her as she moved alongside him, her pale, uncovered feet never quite touching the ground. Her white-blond hair was even longer now, glowing dimly in the flickering overhead light, reaching down to the middle of her back. The dress she wore didn't seem to be made of any human material; rather, it seemed to be made of light itself. It was shaped like a ball gown, a corset with long trailing sleeves and a skirt that would have touched the floor, if she was not holding it up. It was pure white, with no design, but something that looked like diamonds scattered across it. On her head sat a simple tiara, which what looked like silver, but the odd shine that accompanied it told Sam it was not earth born. Finally, Ally was appearing to him in the human version of what she was.

A Queen.

A Mother.

"I could not tell you. You could not be told too soon." Her voice was soft, apologetic.

"Why?"

"The time stream has digressed enough by my will. You could not know too soon, so I hid the knowledge from you."

"You tampered with my brain? Wait...what do you mean, about the time stream? How did you tamper with it?"

Sam's voice, which had started as a furious whisper, dragged out as he tried to process what had been said.

"I tampered with it the moment you were born. And I cannot say anymore, for I am bound by the Laws of Time.

"Laws of  _what?"_ Sam's question went unanswered as Ally suddenly swooped forward. She pressed a palm to both of his cheeks and rested her forehead against his. She gazed into his eyes, the exact copy of her own, and Sam looked into hers, seeing a mixture of pride, love and affection in them.

"This may be the last time we meet, my champion. You must stay true to your beliefs, trust those who surround you, and find The Hunter."

"What?" Sam's world was spinning too fast, his headache fought its way to the surface once more as he tried to sift through what was being said. He reached out, but in a swirl of light, Ally was gone, as if she had never been there in the first place.

He continued to stare where whe once was, only moving when Miles appeared and gave his arm yet another sharp tug.

They entered the small room, and even the Elites couldn't stop the sigh of wonder at the huge, towering Cube. Sam, as the closest to the window, moved forward slightly, and pressed his palm against the glass, as if he could reach out and touch the one thing in the whole of the S-7 Headquarters that felt like home. He drowned out the useless chatter from the Director as he traced the Allspark on the window. A light blue light ran over the Allspark, and unexplainable warmth filled the tired boy, causing him to smile slightly, close his eyes and trace a sleepy glyph on the window.

_Thankyou_

"- dam hides the Cube's energy. What kind exactly?"

Miles froze and Sam's eyes snapped open, their breath freezing in their lungs as they slowly turned on their heels.

Neither the Director nor Simmons would meet their eyes.

"Follow me."

* * *

Sam was shaking. From head to toe, he was visibly trembling. Miles was just as bad. Mikeala had looked at them once, and then refused to meet their eyes again. The Director didn't even glance at them, while Simmons was too afraid to. Hands scrunched into fists, teeth clenched together, eyes promising a slow, painful death and their whole bodies trembling with suppressed rage, the two Elites followed the group into the room that they had cursed into Hell more times than they could count.

"Please step inside. They have to lock us in. Security reasons." The Director gave a half glance backwards, before continuing to the centre of the room. Simmons stepped forward, decidedly  _not_ looking at the boys at his elbow.

"Anybody have any mechanical devices? BlackBerry? Key alarm? Cell phone?"

With the device in hand, he slipped it into the box, biting his tongue against the Nokia comments that were trying to slip out, not wanting to antagonise the furious boys any further.

There was a bright flash, an overwhelming sadness that swept through Sam, then...

" _What's going on?_

_Where am I?_

_Who are you?_

_What are you?_

_Let me out!_

_Let me out!_

_Let me out!"_

The sparkling's cries turned hysterical as it threw itself against the strong glass, again and again, before it finally started firing on the box. There was the usual jokes and shouts from the watchers, and Simmons answered the best he could, his hands shaking slightly. Tom continued to watch the two rouge Elites carefully, not making a sound, not providing an opinion.

" _Shhh."_

The tiny sparkling froze, optics brightening comically as a soft voice, too quiet for human ears, but just loud enough for Cybertronian receptors to pick up, soothed the scared child in its own tongue. Clicking back hesitantly, the child turned to seek the voice.

" _You can speak to me. Where are you?"_

" _I am here, and I will keep you safe."_

Optics fell on the speaker, one of the strange organic creatures that peered through the thick glass. The tiny sparkling knew it should feel frightened, but the boy with a soft smile and bright blue eyes seemed safe.

"It's stopped breaking the box." Simmons muttered to Tom, who gave a short nod in reply. The Alpha struggled with himself for a second, before moving his hand up to be viewed by the watchers, an odd gun-like mechanism in his hand.

"What will that do?"

Mikeala's sudden, innocent question made Simmons pause as he searched for an answer.

"It will...deactivate it."

Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth to protest, only to be stopped by Miles' stiff headshake.

Simmons finger twitched, then every nerve froze. His eyes flicked down to where an extremely sharp dagger pressed against his stomach. His eyes flicked then to the Director, who was glaring at Lightning distastefully, but unable to do anything in front of witnesses.

"Give me the trigger. Now." The voice was calm, cold, controlled. And that is what scared Simmons most, knowing that this act was well thought out, not a hasty, fury-fuelled move. Admitting defeat, the trigger was passed to Sam, who passed it to Miles. Before anyone else could speak, Sam was cradling the sparkling in his arms, whispering to it softly.

After a moment of shivering silence, the non S-7 members started to protest, the army Ranger's already armed, shouting demands and questions at the "freaking crazy SOB that's gonna get us killed", and mostly ignoring Miles' attempts for tranquillity. It was only with his last, fed-up shout of,

"DOES IT LOOK DANGEROUS TO YOU?" did they calm themselves and not just see, but really  _look_.

The tiny sparkling curled into Sam's arms, despite being scared of the increasing shouting, he knew that he would come to no harm, that these arms would protect him. He rested his helm against Sam's steady heartbeat, letting rhythmic thrum and the warm, safe energy that cocooned him lull him into a light doze.

"It looks kinda..." Epps started, trailing off while he tried to find a suitable word. It was Will who supplied it, the tiny metal alien in Sam's arms reminding him of his daughter with a sharp pang.

"Innocent"

"It's just a kid, a baby." Guilt again dawned in Mikeala's eyes as she gazed down at the tiny recharging figure, followed by her head snapping up and meeting Miles gaze, terrified and full of self-disgust, but soothed by his understanding headshake, showing that he understood she didn't mean Frenzy any harm.

Speaking about him...

There was a horrible, drawn out groan from directly above them and the light flickered thrice, the odd light causing the faces of those surrounding them to warp with terrifying outcomes. The room itself seemed to tremble and the group shared one collective thought.

_Ah shit._

"Gentlemen, they know the Cube is here." John Keller stated the obvious, causing the Director and Alpha to jump into action, Banachek slamming his hand down on the intercom.

"Banachek. What's going on?"

"Well, the NBE One hangar has lost power... and the backup generator is just not gonna cut it."

The Director cursed and ran his finger through his thinning hair. That was when Will, ever the captain, took charge. He slipped past his team members until he came to the opposite side of the desk, palms flat on the surface.

"Do you have an arms room?"

* * *

The mix-matched group of Alphas, Elites, Secretaries, Army Rangers, wanted fugitives, human/alien technology and civilians darted down the twisting corridors, into the heart of S-7 HQ, which had descended into chaos. Members of every level were dashing left and right, orders barked out and equipment stored away. As they headed for the main arms room, Sam saw a small flash of silver... quick as Lightning, Sam's arm shot out and pulled the now just-over-waist-height youngling out the shadows and practically glued him to his side, determined not to be separated again.

" _FRENZY! Where the Sla-laugh have you been?"_

" _Megatron melting!"_

 _Oh, that does_ not _sound good..._

They skidded into the arms room, which was filled by a mixture of Alphas, Elites and their own little rag-tag group. A few eyes darted up at Sam's arrival, a few mouths opened to speak about the NBE at Sam's side; only to be reminded by a very smug Mikeala that time was of the essence, causing them, with a few grumbles, to decide to stick with the lesser of two evils for now.

The ceiling gave a sudden shake, the lights blacking out and returning again, causing all movement to cease in one nail biting, heart stopping moment. Then, everyone sprang into action once more, their movements just a little faster, a little tighter, a little more efficient.

"What do you think you're doing kid?" Epps looked at Miles with a laugh in his voice as the boy looked over the variety of guns on display. "Those things are far too dangerous to be messed around with."

Miles looked up at him, and smiled, causing Mikeala to groan and Sam to sigh as he went right back to arguing with Simmons about the whereabouts of Bumblebee. "So, Mr Epps, you want to throw three civilian teenagers out into the middle of a warzone, fighting against half of a race of aliens thirty times bigger than us and with some very advanced technology, while we only have the other half's word that they won't squish us, all without no weaponry, thus completely defenceless?"

There was a heartbeat of silence, before Epps threw his head back and laughed, throwing one of the pistols beside him to the triumphant blonde with a cry of, "Can we keep him?"

"Take him to his car!" Suddenly, laughing Epps was replaced by US Air Force Tech Sergeant Epps. Army Ranger Captain William Lennox grabbed Simmons by the font of his shirt and slammed him against the side on the nearest jeep, repeating his command over and over again, ignoring the man's spluttering. Out of the corner of his eye, there was a flash of black and in one smooth reflex; the gun hidden in his holster was pointed at the star covered mask that was pointing a gun at him. Unruffled, having faced much worse, he merely ordered for the man to "Drop it."

Quickly slipping into 'Range mode', his team followed. Mathews slipped down from the jeep he was perched on and swung his gun up to rest neatly at the back of the neck of the man who threatened their Captain. Johnson swung round, smashing his gun butt into the face of the masked men behind him and beside him causing them both to crumple to the floor, while Epps drew back his elbow and crashed it into the face of the Alpha beside him, causing the man to hit the ground with a piteous groan.

They stood like that for a few minutes as Banchek desperately tried to calm down the seething elites who demanded justice after one of their owns blood being spilt, while Simmons' stab at getting the G.I. Joe's to lay off fell flat.

"Drop your weapon, soldier." After getting no response from the unmoving captain, he tried again.

"There's an alien war going on and you're gonna shoot me?"

"You know, we didn't ask to be here." Will answered at last, his own eyes darting around the room to make sure that his team and the civilians were all unharmed.

"I'm ordering you under S-Seven executive jurisdiction."

"S-7 don't exist." Epps shot out, his voice sounding odd as it was completely devoid of humour or sarcasm.

"Right. And we don't take orders from people that don't exist." Will sent a tight smile to the Alpha in his grasp, his eyes glinting unyieldingly.

Part of his brain cursed him for not being able to keep his goddamn mouth shut as Simmons kept talking in hope of calming down the soldiers.

"I'm gonna count to five. Okay."

"- Well, I'm gonna count to three."

Then gun that had been pointing at the Elite shifted, as Will realised that Mathews had him covered, and drifted down so the tip pressed right against Simmons' racing heart. The two men stared at eachother unflinchingly, neither speaking, moving, blinking, breathing. The room was cloaked in tense silence, only breaking by John Keller's professional 'bored voice'

"Simmons?"

The abovementioned man jolted and turned to look at the SecDef, trying with all his might not to let his voice squeak at the "Yes, sir?" due to the very real gun directly over his heart.

"I'd do what he says. Losing's really not an option for these guys."

The Rangers smirked slightly at that as they waited for an answer. Simmons seemed to battle with himself, before finally raising his hands up in surrender.

"All right. Okay. Hey, you want to lay the fate of the world on the kid's Camaro? That's cool."


	14. With Evil On Our Heels

They could hear the cries from down the corridor. Electronic screeches, clicks and warbles cut through the three teens like icy knives. Frenzy, who had relocated to Miles' back and was hanging on to him like some sort of metal backpack, pressed his face into Miles' shoulder and shuddered as memories of his own imprisonment echoed through his mind. The still unnamed sparkling turned and buried his head into Sam's chest, causing the boy to briefly hug the tiny bot tightly, and then move him to his shoulder so he could have his hands free.

Simmons and the Director threw open the doors and sprinted into one of the experimentation rooms, the trio and Rangers hot on their heels. They all jerked to a stop at the sight of the bright yellow mech flat on his back, frozen in place by the dry-ice blasters and twitching in obvious agony. They hesitated for a micro-second, and then the teens burst into action. Will suddenly found himself holding the trembling form of Frenzy and the tiny bot as he and the other Rangers could only gape.

Sam and Miles blazed through the room, wrenching the dry-ice blasters from the Alpha's and Elite's standing there and snapping the necks across their knees with one swift snap. The S-7 workers, throwing off their shock, launched themselves forward and swung at the rouge Elite's, attempting to subdue the boys. They soon found that the boys had kept up with their training as they fought back with equal intensity. Will was moving and barking commands before he quite knew what he was saying, the youngling and sparkling passed to Maggie as the Rangers shot to the teens' aid. The room descended into chaos, with the S-7 workers against the Autobot Allies, though said allies didn't know they were allies to the aliens yet. Mikeala's head snapped around as a fist thrown by some brown-haired alpha flew towards her face...

* * *

_The copper-haired, almost fifteen year old flicked his hair out of his eyes as he regarded the girl in front of him. The newly turned fourteen year old Mikeala was dressed like the boy opposite her and the one holding the camcorder, decked in grey sweatpants and a faded black T-shirt. She rubbed her arm, trying to dispel the goose bumps that had sprung up in the sharp spring breeze. They stood in Sam's front yard, with Miles halfway up the nearest tree, camcorder in hand and a slight grin on his face._

" _Mikeala, please..."_

" _No Sam!" The teen glared, hands on hips and refusing to back down. "I'm sick of this! We've been friends since before we could walk, then you both disappear for years and come back looking like the walking dead, jumping at every shadow and loud noise! And now you want to teach me self-defence? What the hell are you running from?"_

" _We're not running from-"_

" _Yes you are! Now for god's sake, tell me what's going on!"_

_The teen continued to look at her for a second, then turned to look at his brother. They shared a glance, then Miles shrugged. Sam let out a breath and turned to Mikeala once more._

" _We can't tell you yet-"_

" _Why not! What-"_

"' _Keala!" Sam cut her off and reached forward, clasping her shoulders tightly and looking into her eyes intently. "We can't tell you_ yet _. What we're running from is very dangerous and we have to wait until we know you can defend yourself. The moment you can, I_ swear  _we will tell you. Do you understand?"_

_The girl nodded with a sigh, and the boy who would soon become her brother smiled softly. "Okay then, let's begin..."_

* * *

The fist was caught with her right hand, Mikeala's left curled into a fist and crashed into the man's face, both the shock of the girl actually landing a hit and the hit itself making him stumble and open to her next hit to the chest. The alpha doubled over, allowing her to swing her leg up, over and across the back of his neck and complete the circle, the momentum throwing the already off-balanced alpha to the floor with a crash. The panic that had frozen her earlier in the day was gone, replaced by a fury and disgust that overwhelmed her. Using her training from her brothers, she looked at the shiny computer monitors, just in time to see an Elite launch herself at her unprotected back. She ducked slightly as the Elite soared over her. Her hands shot out, one going to each side of the Elite's ribcage and giving the other Elite an extra push that sent her flying forward and causing her to crash into the computers in front.

The Elite got to her feet, ripped off her midnight blue cloak with a snarl and stalked towards the girl, furious that a mere  _civilian_  had gotten the better of her. Her hand darted to her waist, a shining blade was conjured and the Elite jumped forward, arm reared back as the girl threw her arms up to protect her face...

A sharp clang sounded and she was staring into Lightning's furious eyes. The Elite's went all out against eachother, every flash of skin a target, every flash of bloody red a victory as they relentlessly swiped at eachother, Lightning's thin dagger against her own. They almost looked like they were dancing gracefully with eachother, if not for their barred teeth and hate-filled eyes.

"What happened to  _protecting_  the civilian, eh Downpour?" Lightning spat as he pushed forward, then stepped back to avoid her next swing at his ribs, every nerve singing as he had his first real fight in over three years, his adrenaline spiking.

"She was obviously trained by you, she can hardly be named a civilian, traitor!" the twenty-six year old replied with a sneer as she was forced back by Lightning's next swipe.

"Is 'traitor' meant to be an insult? I find it quite complimentary, seeing is what I am betraying. And, aww, is the Elite embarrassed that a civilian got the better of her?"

The blonde haired Elite gave a wordless shriek of fury and pushed forward relentlessly, her swings becoming fuelled by her rage, and thus more predictable. Lightning easily blocked her attacks and quickly began to gain the upper hand. Their taunts silenced as they only concentrated on their opponent, the world fading around them, it becoming very clear that neither would stop until their foe lay on the floor, either the blonde taken by unconsciousness or the red head claimed by death. They were only to be brought back by the Director's single, sharp command of

" _ **Stop!**_ "

Downpour froze, half-crouched, left leg skid back and right bent at the knee, body twisted so her left arm was almost behind her and her right cutting across her body protectively. Lightning was also frozen, left leg parallel to Downpour's, right leg stretched back and keeping his balance, body twisted so all his power was focused on his right arm and the dagger that was almost at Downpour's ribs. Their bodies were mirror images of eachother, locked in what would appear to be an intimate tango. Then they stepped back, Downpour moving over to the furious Director and Sam to his brother and sister.

The two sides ignored eachother as they checked their wounded, Mikeala escaping with only faint bruising to her left side, the Rangers with a few bumps and Miles with just a cut over his right eye. Sam only had a few scrapes from Downpour's blade, barely touched. He spun to look at the yellow bot who was staring down at them as if they were gold to a poor man. "Are you okay? How bad did they hurt you?" Sam's eyes were flashing with rage as they flicked over the bot, checking of injuries, causing the young bot's spark to swell. The three humans had tracked him down and fought for him, at their own risk, having barely known him a few hours. The bot nodded slowly and managed to stretch out a finger. Sam's eyes softened and he touch the finger lightly, as did both Miles and Mikeala. Will moved forward and tapped the boy on the shoulder.

"What the hell was that?" He asked lightly, his eyebrows raised and arms crossed. Miles gave a weary sigh and rubbed a hand over his face. "I have a feeling we'll be seeing much more of eachother after this mess, so how about we wait 'til after the possible alien rapture before we have the family history lessons?"

The captain looked as if he would argue, before nodding, running a hand through his hair. "Alright, we need to-HOLY SHIT!"

The Rangers split in half as a single dagger whistled through the air, directly towards the three teens, directly at Sam's unprotected back. It happened so fast; the Rangers' didn't even get a chance to call out a warning to the boy. There was a sudden flash of yellow, and all three teens were in Bumblebee's hand, clutched protectively to his chest, the dagger dissipating into dust and his cannon glowing and pointing directly at the S-7 workers.

His blue optics burned as music suddenly blasted out like angry, shouted curses.

" **Let's start a riot! A riot! Let's start a riot!"**

Rather than try and subdue the bot, the Ranger's also took up arms, their guns pointed directly at the workers as the cussed them out, with their captain at lead, ordering for them to tell them why they had thrown a knife at an innocent civilian. The ruckus only quietened when Mikeala put two fingers to her lips and blew a sharp whistle that made some of the humans clutch their ears.

"Cam down you lot! We're fine, and we have bigger things to be worrying about!"

Sam patted Bee's hand, gaining the bot's attention. "They didn't hurt us, alright? Listen to me. The Cube is here and the Decepticons are coming."

The scout's optics brightened, and then they darkened as they flicked back to the workers. Miles tapped on the scout's chest this time to get his attention, rubbing his fingers together afterwards to disperse the slight static shock that accompanied the light touch. "No, no, don't worry about them. They're okay. Right? They're not gonna hurt you. I promise."

The scout locked his optics with the blonde, then hesitantly nodded and carefully set the three teens down. The Rangers and the Sec Def were at their side in a flash, checking to make sure they were okay and promising retribution.

The teen's brushed off their worries and Mikeala took point this time, beckoning the mech with her hand. "Here, come with me. We're gonna take you to the Allspark."

* * *

Bumblebee looked up at the cube with bright optics, the sense of home that had not been felt in megavorns rushing through him and making him want to weep. The Allspark stood in front of him, warm energy flowing over him in waves and its glyphs glowing lightly, transporting him back to when he was a mere sparkling and the caretakers he could barely remember brought him into the shining city of Iacon to see the cube in all its glory, and to when Optimus took him as a tired youngling to teach him its secrets.

The whispers of the humans faded as he stepped forward and raised his arms as he had once seen his brother do, dipping his head slightly and dropping down on one knee. His optics darkened and he spoke in the most high of Cybertronian, in a dialect very few outside High Command knew and even less could speak fluently. The Language of Old was whispered softly, the words twirling and twisting as he spoke.

" _Dear mother, I ask you to hear my request, and if you see fit, grant it. May I have the honour of guarding you, transporting you to safety and to the one your Father marked as Prime?"_

There was a soft, feminine laugh and the feeling as if a warm hand had been placed on his helm.

" _Of course, my brave young son."_

Bumblebee's head lifted as blue light shone across the Cube, and then it collapsed in on itself with smooth, soft clicking. The young scout reached out and gently held the ancient artefact in his cupped servos, staring at it in disbelief, as if he couldn't believe that what he held so reverently was truly there.

Sam's legs shook as Miles and Mikeala clasped his arms to keep him upright, his eyes locked just beyond Bumblebee's shoulder and at the queen floating in mid-air there. His next words were only breathed, lips trembling slightly.

" _I understood him this time. Why?"_

The white haired royal smiled softly, and her voice echoed not in Sam's ears, but his head.

" _He speaks in a language of old, my champion. Do not worry, all will one day become clear."_

" _We can trust them then?"_

" _Undoubtedly"_

The snow hair woman gave a final smile, and then was gone in a flash of a few seconds, Sam realised that Bumblebee was looking at him.

" **Message from Starfleet, Captain**

 **Let's get to it** "

Will spoke up now, his own chocolate eyes warm and awed as he looked up at the bright yellow bot. "He's right. We stay here, we're screwed with Megatron in the other hangar. Mission City is 22 miles away. We're gonna sneak that Cube out of here and we're gonna hide it somewhere in the city."

John Keller nodded enthusiastically, gesturing to the scout and the captain. "Good! Right."

Will spoke once more, speaking the most important fact that had been missed by most. "But we cannot make a stand without the Air Force."

Keller spun to look as Simmons, who stood with wide eyes and gaped mouth at what had transpired in front of his eyes, his eyes snapping from the yellow bot and to the travel-sized cube that lay in his hand repeatedly.

"This place must have some kind of radio link!"

The suited man nodded, his face still frozen in shock as he tried to shake himself out of it.

"Sir, you got to figure out some way to get word out to them." Will respectably said the Sec Def, and then spun back into his Army Ranger Captain persona with a sharp command of, "Let's go!"

The Rangers spun and started to run towards the exit, Bumblebee transformed quickly and Will looked over at Sam, and gave a single head nod.

The effect was instant. The captain, bot and three teens fell into a pattern that seemed as easy as breathing. Will spun, grabbed three of his man's hand guns and threw them through the air. The three teens jumped and claimed a gun each, Bee's doors flew open and they piled in, Mikeala in the back, Sam in the driver seat and Miles in the passenger. The Allspark secured by Mikeala and Bee's engine revved, only for all to freeze suddenly. Will stopped at the door, and the five just looked at eachother in dazed confusion. After a few seconds, Epps' shout snapped them out of their daze and they burst back into action, pushing the odd occurrence to the back of their minds and blaming it on the adrenalin. Will ran through the doors, barking orders once more and Bee pulled up to where a stunned Maggie and Glen stood, who had stood by and watched everything happen with dazed expressions. Sam jumped out of the car and slipped over to where Frenzy and the Noki-bot waited, whispering in their audios.

" _Okay little ones, you're going to stay with these nice organics until I come get you, okay?"_

The rest of the conversation was drowned out as Bumblebee jolted harshly, his engine stalling in shock at the sound of the soft Speech of Sparkling's coming from the boy's mouth. Miles' face palmed and Mikeala shook her head in defeat as Bumblebee's radio went haywire

" **Whatcha Say?**

**-Lost in translation-**

**I gotta feeling-**

**-That boy's-**

**-in trouble-"**

"Bee, can we do this later? Please? Tall, metal and insane is abouta wake up and I don't wanna be here when he does!"

" **But-!"**

"Later!"

A few seconds of scratching static which sounded as lost like someone choking on words, then Bumblebee settled in his shocks and, to the blonde surfer, bleeped out a sully,

" **Aye Aye, Captain"**

Sam swung back into the front seat and the yellow bot took off, tires squealing and headlights flashing in warning as he tore down the winding corridors and back into the glaring sunlight.

* * *

_The femme smiled at him, her optics dancing. Mimicking the posh bots that ran their city, she stuck out her arm, servo pointed down and her nose in the air. The mech laughed, a warm, deep sound and dropped into an extravagant bow, took her servo and placed a kiss on it. The beautiful femme laughed with him, a tinkling, infectious laugh that made his spark soar and lip plates smile. He took her in his arms and spun her in a dance compiled of both tradition and club, spinning until they both fell on their backs and gazed up into the violet sky, still giggling like younglings. Their servos reached out and brushed against eachother softly._

" _My brother, mechs and femmes!"_

_He propped himself up on his elbows and winked at his younger brother, who stood with the mechs and femmes who were closer to them than their real family. Dijon snorted and threw himself down on the soft ground, his own sister Chromia going over to the femme's side and the others dropping themselves in scattered positions around them. After a few seconds, cries of delight called out as Blaster, Soundwave and Jazz started playing some of Iacon's freshest tracks, and right there, in the middle of Iacon's Highest School for the Gifted, the looked-down on scholarship mechs and femmes had their very own taste of happiness as they sang their sparks out. The mech smiled at his brother, who had his head thrown back, laughing at some joke one of the med-bots-in-training had made. He turned and found the femme looking at him with a smile on her lip plates. One servo came up and touched her cheek as he moved forward and placed a soft kiss on them, making a very obscene gesture at the catcalls from his friends and family..._

The memory suddenly stopped, the sick darkness twisting inside him rearing its ugly head once more, the need to  _kill kill destroy burn it all_  pumping through every fuel line and circuit. The flash of the mech everyone once knew and looked up to was gone once more, replaced by the twisted tyrant, the merciless murderer.

" **I am Megatron!"**

* * *

Bumblebee took point as the rangers followed, speeding down the twisting Nevada freeway. Halfway there, Bee's scanners pinged as it detected the frantic sparks of four other Cybertronians. With a quick flash, he sent a data burst to the mechs, waving off their questions as they pulled a very sharp and very illegal U-Turn.

* * *

_Earlier_

"You can' be serious Boss! We can' leave Bee!" Jazz was furious, his limbs trembling as he paced, mouth twisted in an uncharacteristic ugly snarl. Ironhide had already shown his displeasure, while Ratchet had remained silent in his fury.

"Of course we're not." He didn't snap, but it was as close as the Prime ever got. "Use your processor Jazz, we cannot go chasing after them, they have an advantage. Where are they likely to take Bumblebee?"

Ironhide answered the question gruffly. "Headquarters".

"Exactly. And where are they likely to take the Allspark, if the humans have it?"

"...their headquarters." Jazz's hyperactive pacing began to slow as he took this in, coming to grudging understanding. "We find the Allspark; we probably find their headquarters and Bee."

Venting, Optimus nodded, his own servo clenching at the thought of his mute brother being hurt by the humans.

"So, we are going to hope to Primus that these glasses will in fact hold the correct co-ordinates, get to the Allspark which will hopefully bring us to the human headquarters, where they will hopefully be holding young Bumblebee. Then we have to break in, find Bumblebee, take out the humans  _without_  killing them, release Bumblebee, extract the Allspark and rendezvous somewhere safe, all without alerting any Decepticons or the human officials?" Ratchet summarised in a dry tone, one optic ridge raised at Prime's sheepish nod.

"I  _knew_  there was a reason I signed on for this!" Came Jazz's cheerful response to the mission that should be titled MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE

* * *

They barrelled down the busy freeway, weaving in and out of the various lanes of traffic. Mikeala looked at the Allspark, feeling a shudder go through her at the sight of the glowing glyphs. The strange alien artefact didn't scare her, it was just too much. A strange ringing sounded in her ears, the cube seemed to whisper in her ear, a strange feeling pressed down on her, a heavy feeling in her chest, too much, too much, too-

"'Keala?"

She broke out of her trance with a gasp, looking up into Miles' worried eyes. With shaking hands, she lifted the cube, trying not to shiver at the sheer  _power_  that seemed to cling to it and passed it to the blonde. After a few moments, he seemed to have the same feeling she did and quickly passed it to Sam. The two waited for him to react to it, but instead, he seemed to do the opposite. His shoulders drooped slightly, his breathing slowed and one hand started drumming lightly on it, as if he was tapping on his own knee. Neither of the two said anything, but both recognised the different reaction and vowed to keep a closer eye on their friend.

Sam was ignoring the odd looks they gave him as he looked out the window at the cars going past. For a split second he wondered what it would be like to be one of the people in them. No war to worry about, no psycho family trying to kill you, the biggest worry being whether or not you get that date on Saturday night or if that shirt goes with that pair of pants. He shook his head.  _No point living in the never will,_  he reminded himself,  _normalcy isn't for me. Besides, what's life without a bunch of aliens having a giant droid death match with you dead centre?_  The boy snorted to himself slightly.  _Giant droid death match. Gotta use that someday._

Still shaking his head, he looked over at Bee's wing mirrors, going stock still when he recognised the vehicle tailing them.

The mustang cop cruiser followed Bee carefully, just outside his scanner range, checking for his son and nearly transforming when he found nothing. He crept closer and closer, in serious danger of being discovered when the 'Sparks217' boy looked in the autobit's mirror and turned to face the Ex-Enforcer dead on. The mustang braked hard and started to back off, only for the boy to mouth two very distinct words.

'Frenzy. Safe.'

Then he slipped his head back into the Camaro as if he had never seen the con. And in that moment, Sam had gained an unlikely and quite unwilling ally as the enforcer drew back, knowing that the only way to get his sparkling was through the continued existence of the small organic.

' _Primus, just put me out of my misery now...'_

* * *

_A little later_

Captain Lennox threw a box-like thing at Epps with a call of, "Here, I got shortwave radios"

The SIC quickly turned them over in his hand, before pausing and looking up at his waiting captain with a confused expression. "...What am I supposed to do with these?"

The Ranger Captain rolled his eyes as he shouted in at him, "Use them! It's all we got!", then jumped into the jeep with him. The SIC continued to look incredulously at him, before shaking his head with a muttered, "This is like, RadioShack dinosaur radios or something, man." Then, he raised his voice and continued with, "I'm only gonna get twenty, thirty miles out these things"

The rest of the Rangers and the Autobots followed the two, as Epps continued to call into the radio, asking for any orbiting aircraft.

They were all momentarily distracted by the loud  _woosh!_  and looked up, just getting a glimpse of the sleek F-22 above their heads. Will quickly called out commands for his SIC to relay, not taking his eyes off the spot where the jet was last spotted. The Rangers and the bots came to a sudden stop, the humans existed the vehicles, a few coughing as green smoke curled up from their position. Epps continued to bark into the radio, his eyes drifting to meet Will's as they shared a worried glance when no one responded.

The Autobots jolted as a familiar spark pattern came into their radars. Prime was shouting out commands over the comms, and Ironhide quickly transformed with a warning of, "It's Starscream!"

Epps swallowed, and almost whispered, "Please tell me you copy."

Ratchet's wheels spun as he quickly reversed, Bumblebee startling his human charges when he abruptly followed Ironhide's command and transformed, both of them darting forward to lift up a nearby delivery lorry to use as a makeshift form of shelter, warning the humans to "Get Back!"

Any Rangers still taking shelter in the jeeps darted out at their captain's call of, "Fallback!" running to take shelter in anyplace they could. Ironhide could barely get out a warning of, "Incoming!" before Starscream's missile struck home.

Fire, chunks of road, dirt and scorched metal exploded out, showering unfortunate bystanders and stealing the life of innocents. Ironhide flew back, Bumblebee spun head-over-pedes threw the air, dust blinding the allies as they too were thrown, either to the ground on against nearby buildings.

Mikeala hit the ground with a nasty slap; Miles went down and over his ankle with a sickening snap, and Sam cracked his head as he fell. Time seemed to stop for a moment as the three teens were blinded by a bright light, their thoughts fuzzy and slow, sounds dim and quiet from the blast as they tried to get their bearings. Mikeala's hand reached out and brushed against her brothers, a subtle reminder that each were more-or-less alive and well. They got to their feet, Miles leaning heavily on Sam, Mikeala rushing over to help free a Ranger trapped by the remains of his jeep. They were distracted by a soft, mechanical cry and spun to see Bumblebee drag himself out of the dust. Sam's stomach fell in a sickening swoop as he saw the energon coating the ground, and Bumblebee's legs savagely torn off below the knee joint. Mikeala gave a worried cry and ran over, her hands becoming slick with the bright blue fluid as she tried to staunch the flow and Miles turned a drastic shade of white as he tried to help the bot with encouraging shouts, ignoring his own now meaningless injury at the sight of the bot's.

Sam ran in front of Bee, placing a hand on Jazz's hood and encouraging the almost paralysed with worry bot to reverse, his eyes only on the yellow bot. Something cold and icy gripped the teen's heart as he looked into the bot's pained optics, his own voice choked with a fear he had not felt since Blaze's last near-miss as he cried for the medic.

* * *

She wiped a tear from her eye as a blue bond suddenly shone brightly, one confirmed and another starting to connect as three more became brothers to the champion.

* * *

Sam gripped his hair as the bot continued to pull himself across the ground, optics on only one goal. Mikeala pulled his arm down to stop him from causing himself injury, gripping it tightly, trying not to sob at the injured yellow scout who was somehow becoming someone close to her heart. Miles was trembling; trying to keep himself upright by using Sam's other arms as leverage, continuing with his shouts, afraid of what would happen, should he stop. The trio jolted as what sounded almost like cannon fire burst through the air. They snapped their heads around, Miles making a strangled sound in his throat at the sight of the con disguised as a tank. With an almost snarl, the Porsche flew, followed by the Hummer, towards the mech. The humans scrambled into order also, following shouted commands.

The teens split, Miles running to the scout, Sam into one of the alleyways and Mikeala to a close, abandoned tow-truck. Sam ducked into the darkened alleyway and grabbed a shadow there by the throat, pinning him against the wall.

"What the  _hell_  are you doing? Why the  _fuck_  are you just standing there, why aren't you helping?"

The shadow laughed. "I'm sure your little NBE friends can take care of themselves. We will only help if they fail."

Sam gave a snarl of rage and slammed Thunder against the wall once more. "Innocents are dying! My brother's are injured! Help us" he didn't seem to realise that he had referred to Bumblebee as his brother, the word slipping naturally from his tongue.

Thunder shrugged. "S'not my fault." Then, he vanished, leaving Sam with only a fistful of emerald green cloak. The enraged teen threw it down, spat on it, and then dashed into the skirmish, skidding over to his brothers.

Bumblebee looked up at him, and Sam placed a hand on his cheek.

"We're not going to leave you." he promised, only to be cut off when the bot reached out, then handed him the old, yet somehow still glowing Allspark.

* * *

Ironhide, back in his alt-mode, avoided the incoming missiles with practiced ease, not slowing as he raced towards the con. Suddenly, a duo of missiles were heading directly at him, leaving no room for him to avoid them. Instead of stopping, he increased his speed and, at the last second, without stopping, he transformed. He lunge forward with a skill only held by those of the highest warrior class, pulling himself into an almost handstand, allowing the missiles to soar harmlessly past him. Just before hitting the ground, he shot a low energy-pulse at the road directly below him, giving himself an extra lift as he cartwheeled, the world slowing as he took in all required information. He landed on his pedes, then pushed himself into a brilliantly executed forward flip, avoiding the next two missiles.

Jazz skidding around the corner, transforming smoothly and flipping through the air, looking like he would be more in place on a dance floor than in a battle as he landed directly on the tank. "Come on, Decepticon punk!" he taunted, grabbing the barrel of the tank and pulling it sharply, twisting so he was on the back of the now transformed con. He quickly went to work, only to be flung harshly into the side of a building. Ironhide twirled as he avoided the missiles shooting towards him, sending return fire at the con just within his sights. Jazz was suddenly back in the fight, skidding low with a shield protecting him. Ratchet flew over the con's head, his tool for saving lives now turning into a weapon as the saw spun and sliced the con's arm clean off. The Ranger's darted forward, and with a combined effort, the con was brought to the ground with a cry.

The momentary victory was vanquished when another spark appeared on their radar.

"

* * *

_And so, with the power handed to me by our father Primus, I name you, Orion Pax, Optimus Prime. Our brother, our teacher and our leader" Sentinel Prime placed his servos on the red and blue bot's shoulders, smiling at the bright opticed mech. The watching Cybertronians' cried and whistled, their applause echoing throughout Iacon and in the homes of those off-planet and beyond the walls of the crystal city._

_Then the Once-Prime stepped back and a new mech moved forward, his navy frame glowing lightly as he stood in front of the mech standing at the new Prime's right hand. He rested his servo over the silver bot's spark. "And so, with the power handed to me by our father Primus, I name you, Maximus Pax, Megatronus. Our brother and our Protector." The crowds cheered once more as their High Protector was officially instated._

_Finally, a midnight black mech moved forward, a metal tablet covered in Writing's of Old in his servo. He stood directly in front of the mech at the Prime's left. The red mech placed his hand over the tablet, gazing directly into his mentor's optics as he spoke. "Do you swear on your spark that you will, to the highest degree, watch over our Prime and protect him, until there is not light in your optics nor pulse of your spark."_

" _I swear."_

" _And so, with the power handed to me by our father Primus, I name you, Dijon Veil, Ironhide. Our brother and our Prime's protector."_

_The trio stood together, optics bright, shoulders straight, and brother bonds glowing strong as they gazed down at their cheering people._

* * *

Megatron spun, letting off two shots. The first caught Ratchet and the second Jazz, sending him plummeting backwards and scattering the Rangers. The once High Protector laughed, then jumped into the air. Jazz watched the Protector start to leave, then made a snap decision and, ignoring the frantic calls of his brothers to "FALL BACK!", he jumped and caught Megatron' pede.

* * *

Mikeala pulled up beside the two boys in a tow truck and, without having to be prompted, they jumped into action.

* * *

Jazz withheld a cry of pain as he was smashed down, Megatron's pede crushing him into the roof of the building. He spat the energon that had welled up in his mouth at the tyrant's pede and slurred, "That all you got, Megatron?"

"Come here, you little cretin." The con swiped a servo down and yanked Jazz like a rag doll, the world spinning and blurring. The leader suddenly gave a cry of pain as Jazz let off two shots, hitting him directly in the knee. "You want a piece of me? YOU WANT A PIECE?"

Flipping him up, Megatron held Jazz in his servos, his ankles in one, and his shoulders in another. "No. I. Want.  _Two!_ " Pain erupted through Jazz's midsection as the tyrant twisted and pulled, every atoms screaming in agony, and the face and voice of his beloved rang in his mind and audios.

" _Jazz? Jazz! JAZZ! NO JAZZ!"_ The enforcer's face and voice twisted in agony as he reached thorough the until-now closed bond, desperate to hold on to his bonded. Warning signals flashed across the saboteur's vision, darkness was closing over, pain was taking control as, with his last action, he whispered,

"' _am sorry sweetspark. Love yah, Prowler"_  and closed the bond, the block and the distance giving his bonded a chance to survive. The last thing he heard was his brother's cries; his bonded's screams, then...Nothing.

* * *

Barricade jerked to a stop with a strangled roar as the almost gone bond that he had with the saboteur vanished. The empty warehouse that he had taken shelter in stood no chance as he lashed out, his servos screaming in agony as he punched the walls.

" _Why do you care for the saboteur?" Starscream's optics were narrowed as he looked down on the once-enforcer. Barricade kept his tone even. "Jazz is bonded to my younger brother, thus he is part of my family and thus under my care." Starscream continued to look at the mustang, before shrugging. It was a well known fact that very few Decepticon's would claim any Autobots, but some were known invoke old traditions, such as the one Barricade was doing now. So the seeker nodded slowly. "Very well, Barricade. The saboteur's spark is in your hands. Now, what is your payment?"_

_The kneeling con offlined his optics and bowed his helm. "Anything."_

* * *

Sam clutched both his chest and his head with a cry of pain, the image of a hysterical enforcer being brought to the ground by a few other bots, twisting and screaming in agony tearing across his vision. He looked up, blinking away tears as he spotted Megaton holding the two pieces of the special ops bot in his hand, smirking at them like they were some sort of trophy. Suddenly, a rage he had only felt when he found out about S7 overcame him, his vision taking a very dangerous red tint as he leaped down from the tow truck, grabbing the Allspark as he did so.

"Sam!"

Snapping his head around, the boy's eyes met with Will's as he came flying down the ruined street. "Where's the Cube?"

"Here."

Will nodded, barking orders to Epps as he rounded the corner, heading directly towards the gunfire. His sharp eyes landed on a building not too far away, and a what would normally be crazy idea sprang to mind.

"Okay, All right, I can't leave my guys back there, so here, take this flare." He handed the dirt, smoke and energon smeared boy the flare, not breaking eye contact with him. "Okay, there's a tall, white building with statues on top. Go to the roof. Set the flare."

"No!" Mikeala attempted to intervene, ignoring Miles' hand on her shoulder. Will ignored to girl, continuing when the boy nodded. "Signal the chopper and set the flare."

"No!" Mikeala pushed forward, pushing at the soldier's shoulder, her fear spiking when Sam nodded and turned to go, her hand grabbing his shirt to stop him. "You can't! It's too dangerous! Stop-!"

Will gripped her shoulder, forcing her to look at him. "Listen to me! He's a soldier now! And so are you! You all are!" He directed the last bit to the blonde that was watching with wary eyes.

The girl jolted, eyes widening as the man turned back to Sam who was waiting for the order to go.

"All right? I need you to take this Cube. Get it into military hands while we hold them off, or a lot of people are gonna die."

He nodded and turned. Will also moved, turning to Mikeala and Miles this time. "You got to go. You got to go." Unsurprisingly, both shook their heads. "No, I'm not leaving."

"You need to go. Go!"

"No, I'm not leaving till I get Bumblebee out of here, okay?"

Will looked at the two, then shook his head and moved away, unable to squash the small feeling of pride that bubbled in his chest.

Ironhide looked down at the boy, somehow unsurprised to see the grief in his eyes. "Sam, we will protect you."

The teen looked up, and nodded.

"Okay."

Faces flashed in his mind. His mother. His father. His sister. Elite's that lost their lives defending innocents from NBE's. Melissa. Each of the Sparklings. Frenzy. Barricade. Prowl. Will. Epps. Each of the Rangers. Mikeala. Miles. Ratchet. Ironhide. Bumblebee. Optimus. Jazz.

He dropped into an almost crouch, eyes set dead ahead, let everything fade except for the people he was fighting for, and ran.


	15. This Is War

Miles glanced down. On the rubble covered ground beside him a dark haired solider lay, eyes gazing blankly at the heavens. Crouching down stiffly, he took two coins from his pocket. The teen leant over and gently closed the man's eyes, resting the coins on top of the closed lids and sending a quick prayer to Charon for safe passage. He patted himself down, cursing himself for his stupidity when he realised he had lost both his weapons in the fight. His hand darted out and grabbed the gun that lay abandoned beside the fallen solider and he quickly straightened, limping over to the make-shift wall covering the Rangers. He came to rest beside a tall, bald man, who glanced over at him. The command for the kid to take shelter was on his lips, only for him to pause. The blonde haired boy looked evenly back at him, hands unshaken and eyes sending one clear message, ' _send me away and I'll just keep coming back.'_  He nodded to the boy, shifting slightly so he could squeeze in, and gave the command to fire.

* * *

Sam ran. His feet skidded across loose rubble and hidden holes, but never slipped from under him. The explosions and flashes of heat went ignored, and for the first time in years, he sent a prayer of thanks for his training. He ducked under the medic's yellow arm and weaved through the Warrior's quick footwork, his entire body becoming graceful and fluid.

"WATCH OUT!"

Ironhide suddenly flipped himself in front of the still running boy, grabbed an abandoned car and shielded the boy from the decepti-copter's shot. Ignoring the shout, the boy kept running and, at the last second, dropped to the ground and skidded under the newly transformed con, scrambling to his feet and never stumbling his pace. The black mech flew back, blinded for a micro-second and a strange fear choked his vocalizer when he realised he could not see the boy. He scanned the street desperately, his optics zooming in on the boys back and, strangely, a tiny bit of pride shot through the mech at how much ground the boy had covered.

* * *

"Girl! Get that tow truck out of here!"

Mikeala snapped back a reply, distracted, her hands flying over the chains to secure Bumblebee.

* * *

Megatron sat on his white tower, holding the two pieces of the now offlined Special Ops bot. The electric blue energon dried on his hands, making them sticky and unable to move correctly. He looked down at the bots face, which did not look peaceful; rather, it looked merely empty in death. And for some odd reason, he settled the visor that was hanging off his face back into place.

" _Fraggin' pit, were the **pit**  is my visor?" The slim silver bot scrambled across the ground, playing deaf to the 'Noble' bots' jeers. His servos skirted across the ground until they touched a pede. His servo was tapped and his fragile blue visor pressed into it. The mech quickly pushed it on and smiled up at the blue opticed mech. The tall silver-and-blue mech offered his servo, helping him to his pedes. Maximus, who had just come across the scene, stood in the shadows, optic ridges raised at the sight of a 'Noble' helping a member of the 'no good Gamma scum'._

_Jazz smiled at his rescuer, though keeping his now covered optics away from the Noble's face, as par with tradition. "Thanks."_

_The mech studied him. "Why do you wear a visor?" His voice was flat, monotone, but with a ring of the Nobel accent. Maximus smirked, rolling his violet optics. As if Jazz would actually-_

" _Ah have sensitive optics, too much light an' I can' see a damn thing."_

_Pax's mouth dropped open._

" _Fascinating." The tall bot continued to stare at Jazz and asked a few more questions. Jazz replied to them, his body calm and relaxed, totally blind to the dumbstruck bot in the corner. Only when the claxon rang for the next class did the still unnamed mech shake himself lightly. After making his goodbye, he turned to leave, only to pause._

" _I never did ask, what is your designation?"_

" _Call meh Jazz" The future spy smiled, almost causing the bot in the shadows' spark to seize. Jazz...smiling? Properly smiling? Shouldn't Unicorn be swallowing Praxus by now?_

" _Very well. Good afternoon, Jazz."_

_Only when the bot was almost down the corridor, did Jazz shout. "Ah never got your name?"_

_The bot paused, turned and said, almost a whisper and with just a hint of a smile._

" _Prowl."_

_Then he was gone, leaving a staring Jazz behind him. Maximus waited for a moment then grinned. He cracked his knuckles and set about planning, 'Get-Jazz-With-A-Noble-Primus-Help-Us-All'_

The mech blinked, his optics flicking from blood red, to soft violet and back again so fast none noticed. He looked down at the sound of transformation and grinned sadistically at the grief stricken expression on his younger brother's face, his grin widening when it turned to fury.

"Megatron" the voice was growled, rage, pain, fury, agony and sparkbreak lacing through it at the sight of the mech he saw as a brother torn in his older brother's servo's.

"Prime" The title was drawled, dripping with hate, disgust and patronization. Glancing down at the dull scrap metal in his hands, he carelessly chucked it, ignoring the tiny, infinitesimal blip of rage and pain that laced through him. He causally stepped off the roof, converting mid-drop and flying towards his once-brother. The Prime reached up and grabbed hold of his brother as he shot past, his pedes lifting off the ground. They spiralled through the air, clipping corners off buildings or ploughing right through them, Optimus trying to take control. After one particularly nasty collision, the two fell, crashing into the ground, trying to get one up over the other as they crashed through the streets of the panicked city.

Megatron pinned his brother, his crimson optics glowering into his brothers. "Humans," the word was spat, as if even the mere name was filthy, "Don't deserve to live."

Optimus' arm shot out, forcing his brother's chin away. "They deserve," his voice was strained, "To have a choice." Megatron glared at him, his own arm lashing out and snapping Optimus' head around.

"Then you will die with them!"

With one hurl, the past-Protector threw the Prime, sending him smashing down into the street, watching the humans flee like the insects they were.

"Join them in extinction!"

His hands snapped together, the long barrel of a gun shooting outwards. Optimus quickly pulled himself to his feet, grabbing his blaster from his back and letting off the first shot. The orange fireball slammed into the warlord's shoulder, forcing him to fall. Using the momentum, he spun until he was on one knee, letting off a shot of his own and catching Optimus in the chest, sending him flying pede over head into a nearby office block.

* * *

Sam skidded around the corner, his heartbeat roaring in his ears. He dodged through the cast off cars and panicked people, his feet barely touching the cracked asphalt. Ironhide and Ratchet were at his heels, shouting encouragement to the running boy. A warning screamed in the messy haired boy's head and he threw himself to the ground, twisting to cover his face as the trine leader landed barely meters in front of him. Cars exploded, flames missing the boy by inches. Ratchet threw himself forward, his own spark clenching when he realised the boy was gone from his scanners, his body heat lost in the flames. Ironhide was only seconds behind, the two Autobot's trying desperately to dodge the commander's shots, return fire and find the boy.

Only later would it occur to them that they were more scared for the boy than the Allspark.

Sam rolled to his right, clutching the Allspark close to his chest and leaving his back agonizingly vulnerable as the Seeker's pede crashed down on where he had lay mere seconds ago. He rolled again, dodging another pede. He curled around the Allspark, using his body as a human shield, only one thought in his head, throwing his own safety to the side.

' _As long as it is safe, nothing else matters.'_

Starscream snarled and transformed once more, flying through a gap left by the two injured bots.

"Sam. Get to the building." Ironhide all but collapsed forward, vital blue dripping from his chest. For a split second, the boy wanted to glare at the mech and snarl, ' _the pit with it, get your ass on a berth Dijon and get healed, you moron!'_ annoyed at the mech's usual self-sacrificing habits. Then it occurred to him that he had never seen this mech before last night and why was he calling him  _Dijon_?

Then he was on his feet and running on once more.

* * *

Megatron spiralled downwards, hitting the street with a shaking crash. His optics swept the street, locking in on the copper haired youth practically flying down the street.

"Give me that Cube, boy!"

The boy spared a glance over his shoulder and Megatron's step faltered. He looked oddly familiar...

The teen ran on and suddenly collided with a speeding SUV. He slammed into it, ribs screaming in agony as he rolled across it and smacked onto the ground. The Allspark hit the ground and sapphire flared out from it, and from the boy's eyes and fingertips.

The brunette inside the car glared down at the teen's battered form and spat, "Did that jerk just dent my car?"

' _Protect him'_

The steering wheel spun, and then seemed to grown four spindly legs as it shot towards the girl. A newly bought X-Box shuddered and burst from its cardboard prison, while a nearby Mountain Dew drinks dispenser exploded out of the metal frame surrounding it. Sam's mouth fell open as the three brand new NBT's made their way over to him and started firing at the surprised warlord.

" _Leave him! Get to safety, NOW!"_

The younglings looked to the boy, at his worried expression and firmly shook their heads.

Megatron knew he should just blast them out of the way. But it had been  _so_  long since he had last seen a youngling, and for three to be created in front of his optics? It was confusing and somehow, the darkness inside him lessened slightly. Then it surged back, angrier and even more twisted than before. His servos swooped down...

_Bang! Bang! Bang Bang Bang Bang!_

The tyrant gave a screech as pain surged through his arm. He took his optics off the NBT's for a second and they vanished into the chaos, running towards the tall and very shocked Hummer.

Megatron head shot up, one servo clenching his injured arm, half expecting to see Prime standing there. Instead, the insect with metal coloured hair and too-blue eyes glared back at him. The Allspark was at his feet, a smoking gun still pointing at the con, fury dancing in his eyes. The insect, instead of using the time the leader had been distracted during to run on, to increase his chance of getting to see another sunrise, had stood his ground and drew his attention away from the children. It was stupid, ridiculous, life endangering. And yet, somewhere deep within his spark, a smidge of respect flared. Then the empty gun was on the ground and the boy was gone in a flash, and the chase was back on.

He darted down the rest of the road, weaving through the slow moving traffic, and then skidded into the building's large, run down hallway. Glancing around, his ears pricked at the sound of heavy footfall and he threw himself forward, already out of the hall and at the foot of the rickety old stairs when Megatron burst into the building.

He tore up them and out through the large open-plan space, only for the floorboards to erupt upwards at his heels as crazed leader burst through them. He took a wild swing, bricks, plaster and dust exploded everywhere, showering the boy is tiny, razor sharp chunks. Ignoring the pain that accompanied the dust settling in his open injuries, he sprinted over to the tall staircase and begun climbing, hyper-aware of the thumping footfalls following him.

* * *

Mikeala pulled into a tiny alleyway, only big enough to hold the tow truck. The truck came to a stop with the young woman inside slamming her hands against the wheel. A sob built in her throat as she rested her head against the wheel.

"I can't do this." The confession was whispered; disgust at her weakness curled her stomach. The last few days flashed in front of her eyes.

_Running. Falling. **Murdering a child**. Hearing Bumblebee's agonising cries. Explosions. Watching Miles' face morph in pain. Seeing Sam crumble._

Tears slipped from her eyes as she gripped the wheel tightly.  _'What's the point anyway, what could I do?'_

Then her aunt was there, sneering at her.  _'You're just going to screw up. You've got bad genes, girl. You're just like your mother, never putting in effort to anything. And you're a carbon copy of your deadbeat father, good for nothing screw up'_

But then it changed.

_Fourteen year old Miles' shoved Trent away from her, growling into his face. Then Sam was there, kneeling down and offering his hand, and for a second, his hard eyes softened and she was looking back at the little boy who she had played pretend with when they all were toddlers. She wiped her eyes and took his hand..._

_Running to the Witwicky house in the middle of the night, her aunt's slicing insults nagging in her ears, the door opening and the two boys holding her tightly..._

_Her fingers darting across the piano, Sam's calm instructions in her ears..._

_Cradling her fifteenth birthday present, a honey golden guitar, wiping away tears and grinning back at the boys..._

_Accidently calling them 'her brothers', and being rewarded with a grin from both boys..._

_Staying up until the crack of dawn, talking, singing, playing..._

_Sam and Miles looking at her, eyes kind but serious, "Don't let your past define you, you can be, can do **anything** "_

* * *

Explosions rang in his ears, flashes of light in the corner of his eyes. Miles kept his aim straight, his training kicking in.

_Don't waste your shots, concentrate your fire. Hit the optics to blind them, lock in on the chest, weak under the armour._

Bricks rained down on where they had retreated to, ducking in and out of the line of fire. The con got in a particularly nasty shot and the tiles and bricks of the wall behind them exploded. Miles swept his eyes over the exhausted, injured but still unrelenting soldiers, and came to one depressing conclusion.

' _If we don't get backup, we're all screwed'_

* * *

Mikeala took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Her racing heart slowed, her frantic breathing calmed. The girl sat up slowly, turning her head to meet the optics of the yellow bot in the back. Bumblebee looked calmly at her and gave a single nod. Mikeala's head snapped around, her eyes narrowing and becoming deadly serious. She jerked the clutch into reverse and keyed the ignition. The tow truck shot backwards, back out onto the rubble strewn street, fishtailing around sharply. Mikeala spun around again to look at Bumblebee.

"I'll drive! You shoot!"

* * *

Lennox took a few more shots at the Decepticon, dropping as another explosion rocked their position, glancing around at his men and summing up the situation in his usual manner.

"This isn't going well!"

Miles had to bite back a, 'Well no shit, Sherlock,', only to be distracted by a flash of yellow heading down the street. After a second, his brain processed just what he was seeing. Bumblebee was heading towards their position, providing the extra firepower they desperately needed. But what surprised him most was the tow truck that was bringing him to them, reversing down the street with a skill only two people he knew possessed, and only one it could possibly be at this present moment in time.

" _Mikeala?"_

After a few minutes, the combined attacks of both the scout and the Rangers finally brought the con to the ground. The two unlikely saviours stopped just outside the Ranger's position, Bumblebee peering in from under his battle mask. Mikeala jumped out, sliding past the bot with a casual, "Nice shot", and making her way over to the Rangers. Lennox blinked at the girl, then spun around to call to his men.

"That tank is definitely dead now."

Epps took command with a shout, "All right, let's go! We got business!"

Mikeala peered in through the empty window, un-tensing slightly when Miles appeared out of nowhere and wrapped her in a hug.

* * *

Sam swung up the fire escape, landing on the building's roof. The tiring teen sprinted across the roof, jumping over the various equipment with practised ease, shouting to get the air support's attention. He fumbled with his pocket for a second, pulling out the flare and slamming it against a nearby wall, dragging in across it and sparking it alight. Red sparks and smoke poured out of it as the boy continued to sprint across the roof, trying to get as much smoke as possible to show his position, silently praying air support would find him before the cons did. A flash of silver caught the corner of his eyes and his adrenalin spiked when he saw Starscream land on a nearby roof. Two helicopters flew over head and as Sam approached the edge of the roof, a third rose slowly. Sending a prayer of thanks, he darted over, reaching out to pass the cube to the waiting man. Just as the cube was at his fingertips, Sam's senses screamed and his head snapped around, just in time to see Starscream let off a missile.

He jerked back with a warning of, "Get Back!", but it was too late.

The helicopter didn't even get a chance to escape as the missiles hit home. Sam flipped backwards, lying flat across the roof as the copter's back blade's just missed his face, once again getting showered by flying bricks.

He lay there for half a second, his vision blurred and thoughts jumbled, when something broke thorough the haze.

"Hang on, Sam!"

Optimus.

Like being douched with ice-cold water, the teen scrambled back to his feet, darting towards the side of the building the voice had come from, only to have to shield his face once more as part of the roof exploded outwards. The building itself shuddered as Megatron clawed his way onto the roof, his optics narrowing in on the boy. Sam skidded to the furthest point on the roof, and with a split second decision, climbed up to hang onto one of the statues that decorated the roof.

Megatron stalked towards the boy slowly, smirking, knowing he had the boy completely trapped.

"Is it fear or courage that compels you, fleshling?" The tyrant tilted his head slightly, honestly curious. Sam ignored his question, daring to look down at the stomach swooning drop.

"Give me the Allspark and you may live to be my pet." The red opticed devil cooed, stretching his claws as he approached the boy.

' _If I jump, I'm dead. But there's a 35% chance that Optimus will be able to reach the Allspark on the ground before Megatron does. As long as the Allspark is out of his servos, nothing else matters. The world can lose me, but it needs the Autobots. I just need to stall...'_

Voice unshaken, conviction clear, Sam called out, "I'm never giving you this All Spark!"

Megatron smiled. "Oh, so unwise."

His servo swooped, a long chain with a heavy object on the end smashed into the roof. And in that second, Sam grinned and jumped.

The roof exploded, showering the falling boy in rubble as flames burst into the sky. Sam curled his body around the Allspark, twisting through the air, the ground growing closer and closer. He closed his eyes, waiting for the final smack...

Cool metal cradled him and his eyes snapped open. He swooped through the air until he was resting on Optimus' chest and staring into his very blue optics.

"I got you, boy." Optimus' deep voice promised, "Hold on to the Cube!"

His battle mask slid back in place as the Prime spun, sliding down the side of the building easily, only to jolt halfway, Megatron jumping and landing on his back. The two spun and fell to the ground with a shaking crash. Slowly, Optimus opened his hands that had been cradling Sam.

"Sam?"

The boy turned slowly, looking into his optics, his own thought spinning. He had saved him. Optimus had risked his own life to catch him. He could have let him fall, picked up the Allspark and escaped with it, but he didn't.  _He saved him._  Sam couldn't make sense of what had just happened.  _Why?_  He was no-one, unimportant, collateral damage. And now the bot sounded  _worried?_  Only Miles and Mikeala had ever seemed worried for him, so why did he care? And  _why_  was he looking at him like he couldn't understand him?

"You risked your life to protect the Cube."

'Well yeah,' the boy wanted to reply, 'of course I did. Why shouldn't I?' But instead, he replied what his father had always told him, his voice tightening slightly.

"No sacrifice, no victory."

Optimus stared at him again, seeming to really  _look_  at him. Really see him, and to be honest, that scared the boy slightly. He had made sure that  _no-one_  could see past the shield he had put up, but now the mech was looking through it with no trouble, as if looking for something. After a second, it seemed he had found it when he continued, "If I cannot defeat Megatron, you must push the Cube into my chest. I will sacrifice myself to destroy it."

'NO!' the boy wanted to scream, 'That's not what I meant!  _You_  can't sacrifice yourself, the universe  _needs_ you!' He went to protest, but as if reading his mind, the Prime cut him off.

"Get behind me."

The two leaders got to their pedes, ignoring their injuries.

"It's you and me, Megatron."

"No, it's just me, Prime."

Sam slipped into one of the large cracks in the road, deep enough that its walls rose over his head. He moved silently, ducking down at the sounds of clashes.

"At the end of this day, one shall stand, one shall fall."

The cube warmed in his hand and Ally was standing in front of him once more. Her hair was tied up and on top of her head sat a strange crown, almost looking like a Viking war helmet. Her clothes had changed too, to a sort of silver armour and a sword was slung across her back.

"You cannot do it." The boy knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Of course not."

"It is not his time." It occurred to Sam that she actually looked panicked, worried for Optimus.

"What are you going to do then?"

Sam closed his eyes slightly. "You know what"

Ally reached out to cup his cheek, then pressed a light kiss to his forehead. "I do. And I agree." Her eyes became far-off, as if lost in memories, "He deserves rest." Then they snapped to the boy once more and she smiled softly. "I am proud of you, my son."

She reached forward and wiped away the tear that was sliding down his cheek.

* * *

"You still fight for the weak! That is why you lose!" Optimus smashed into a nearby building, Megatron gloating over his fallen form.

* * *

The Rangers sprinted down a deserted alleyway, freezing and jerking back when Blackout flew past the alley's mouth, transforming smoothly. They snapped to attention, guns trained on the large con as he prowled down the street towards the still-fighting leaders. Epps looked over at Will, pointing his radio antenna.

"Fighter jets in 60 seconds. We got friendlies mixed with bad guys. Targets will be marked."

Will pushed his solider to get his attention. "Hey," the captain knelt down, looking deeply into his friend's eyes, "Bring the rain. All right?"

Epps looked at him, concern growing in his dark eyes as Will got back to his feet, glancing at his team members.

"All right, let's kill these things."

Epps took point, leading the group while Lennox waited, ready to provide cover fire.

"Armour's weak under the chest." He reminded them, echoing Miles. The group quickly got into position as Lennox moved from his spot and grabbed a fallen motorbike. Epps pointed the laser, the glowing green dot appearing on the con's leg. "Target marked. Still waiting."

Lennox drove down the street slightly, U-turning, engine revving. Epps brought the radio to his mouth again, "F-22s, we're still waiting."

The green dot continued to crawl up the con's body, across his arm and finally onto his servo. Blackout looked down at the tiny dot, spinning to see the Rangers ready and waiting. His armour shifted and a gun appeared. Epps quickly got to his feet.

"Move out!"

Blackout fired, just missing the Rangers and hitting a car, causing yet another to explode violently. The rangers were thrown to the ground, rolling back into to position and returning fire quickly.

Lennox's head dropped, his eyes narrowed and he took off. He flew down the, weaving through the now-dead traffic, passing panicked civilians and quickly gaining speed. He flew past his men, making Epps pause for a split second.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Will ignored him, almost at the con's feet when he twisted the bike sharply, skidding across the ground. Grabbing his gun, he flung himself away from the bike and skid directly under Blackout's feet, firing as he did so. As he did so, the missiles from the Air Force smashed into Blackout, as did the shots fired from the rest of the Rangers. He skid out the other side with a sort of hysterical laugh/shout, feeling Blackout drop to the ground, offlined. He lay on his back of a second then turned to see the con lying, unmoving on the ground. Will scrambled to his feet with a command of, "Run! Move!" to his Rangers.

* * *

As the second wave of Air force approached the city, Starscream appeared, as if from nowhere. The pilots craned their neck around, almost freezing up at the sight of him approaching.

"What is that? Break off!"

The Seeker flew into the formation, jumping on top of the F-22's, destroying their wings and sending them spiralling into buildings. Only a few of the Air Force remained.

"Two, get a lock! Pop that guy!"

Starscream transformed back into his bi-pedal mode as a shot slammed into him from behind. He spun; the other F-22's sliding neatly under him as he swiped at his assailant,  _just_ missing.

"Stay on him. Keep him in your sights."

* * *

The Rangers sprinted towards the two fighting Cybertronians, Lennox taking lead. "Take him out!"

A shot slammed into Megatron, twisting him backwards.

Ally looked at Sam, tears in her eyes. "Now."

The boy exploded out his hiding spot, tearing towards the two. He hit the ground with a skid, watching as more missiles slammed into the warlord. Megatron stumbled back down the street to where Optimus was shakily getting up, the con bombarded by the humans' attacks. Sam met his optics and ran, knowing the con could see him and determinedly leading him away from the other humans and from Optimus, but his injuries made him too slow. The con was catching up with him, reaching out...

_WHAM!_

Megatron went flying, spinning through the air as Optimus caught his pede, delaying him enough to let Sam get further away. Unfortunately, the crash shook the ground and caused the exhausted teen to fall. He scrambled back, eyes on the con that was getting closer and closer with each millisecond. His clawed servos smashed into the ground beside the teen, just missing him. Craning his neck, Sam could see the horribly injured Prime pulling himself towards the leader, stubbornly refusing to give in.

"I'll kill you!" Megatron promise, his sharpen denta barred, "Mine! All Spark!"

"Sam!" Pain laced the Autobot commander's voice, "Put the Cube in my chest! Now!"

Breathing deeply, the teen got to his feet. He looked up, past the warlord where Ally hung, suspended in mid-air, crying lightly.

"Sam!" Keeping his eyes on her, he forced his arms up. "No Sam!"

The Allspark went white-hot. Crackling blue light burst out in a single beam, directly into the Decepticon's spark. Sam's hands were glued to it, heat racing up and down his arms. Ally continued to glow, getting brighter and brighter until she was just a blur of white light. Sam's arms were shaking, his head felt like it was being cleaved in two, every atom screaming in agony. In the back of his mind, he thought he could hear someone screaming.

Later, he would learn it was him.

The Allspark was disintegrating, flying into the leaders spark. Sam was falling to his knees, shaking, agony lacing through him. The bright light that was Ally was being pulled towards the remnants of the Cube, the light was blinding. Then, it happened.

There was an explosion of light that blinded all, with no sound, as if everyone had gone deaf. Unseen, part of the light flew through the street to where a young yellow bot lay, and it curled around his throat.

And that's when the energy slammed into Sam. His eyes were closed, so all he knew was burning hot warmth flying back from his fingertips and through every cell of his body. He seemed to burn for a second, then the pain was gone. He collapsed to his knees, shaking, barely breathing as Megatron stumbled back, clawing at his spark. As the warlord fell, his optics met Sam's eyes.

Soft violet met glowing blue.

Then the light went out and he slammed to the ground, chest still glowing and optics dark, staring up at the sky.

Optimus slowly got to his pedes, his optic bright as he approached the offlined form of his older brother. He gazed down at him, his whole world reeling.

"You left me no choice, brother."

His brother was dead. The older brother that had protected him, taught him how to fight, read to him, played with him, was dead.

Grief threaten to choke his spark and he pushed it aside, focusing on the mech's that needed him.

Ironhide and Ratchet approached slowly, the three NBT's at Ratchet's heels, their own optics bright as they stared at the mech they had once thought as a younger brother. Their optics slowly shifted to the human boy who was looking at the offlined con, swaying slightly. His eyes lifted and they almost jerked back at the guilt in his eyes.

Optimus knelt down to look at the shaking human. "Sam,"

The human jerked, looking up at him with genuine guilt and fear. Optimus just looked at him, unable to tear away his optics.

_He feels guilt. Even though he knows what he has done, he still feels guilt for killing my brother._

He couldn't help but feel awed at the human's ability to feel for others.

"I owe you my life. We are in your debt."

The teen blinked, shaking his head slowly in shock. Optimus rose again, looking over to Ironhide who carefully cradled Jazz.

"Prime, we couldn't save him." His voice was hoarse, only those who knew him well could hear the pain in his voice as he passed the bot over to Optimus. The leader took him carefully, glancing down at the empty face.

"Jazz. We lost a great comrade-"

He looked up from Jazz's face to meet the eyes of the humans looking up at them, all shaking slightly as they came down from the adrenalin rush.

"-but gained new ones. Thank you, all of you. You honour us with your bravery."

A door slammed. Looking around, the groups realised Mikeala and Miles had slipped out of the just pulled up tow truck. They glanced around, spotting Sam and sprinted over. They slipped an arm over each of their shoulders, holding him between them. There was a lull, then a soft English voice spoke.

"Permission to speak, sir?"

Heads snapped around to see the yellow scout who was looking up at Optimus. Ratchet had to stop his mouth from falling open as Optimus smiled at the young bot.

"Permission granted, old friend."

"You can speak now?" It was Miles who asked, his blonde hair practically grey with ash. Bumblebee nodded and continued, "I wish to stay with the three."

Optimus smiled at him, and then turned to look at the three teenagers who were looking up at Bumblebee with undisguised awe.

"If that is their choice."

They looked at eachother and Sam answered, his voice slightly hoarse, but somehow smiling.

"Yes"

Optimus glanced away from the spark warming scene; looking back at his brother, his optics narrowing in on something that made him pause. He carefully settled Jazz on the ground and leaned down, gentling easing the shard of the Allspark that was lodged in Megatron's chest. He held it in his fingertips and closed his palm over it. Storing it in a subspace pocket, he straightened up and started to clear away some of the huge chunks of rubble so they had space to rest and for Ratchet to get to work.


	16. Aftermath

Will cursed himself for not being more attentive. Concerned brown eyes flicked over the remains of Mission City's main street, scanning for a mess of red-brown hair.

The kid was missing.

The kid, who was undoubtedly injured and had just saved all their asses, was missing. One minute he was there and next, gone. They had only realised after about an hour.

Will himself had been seeing to his men and trying to explain to the newly arrived air force and soldiers that the still standing mechs were freindlies, the red-and-blue-truck-holy-shit-he-can-turn-into-a-freaking-robot had been shifting the rubble, (Which definitely made Will warm up to him; he obviously cared for the (men?) under his command) so the English yellow medic could help Ironhide. (He liked Ironhide; guy was tough, brave and very handy with a gun). Bumblebee had been out cold while he got his legs reattached, (Damn, that medic was _fast_  and good) and the two other kids were sent by, (what  _was_  that guy's name? Wrench? Hammer? Ratchet!) Ratchet to go get some supplies. The bots' thought Sam was with them, they thought he was with Will and his men, and  _they_  thought he was with the bots. Cue death silence then panicked running around when they all realised Sam was in none of these places.

Sighing tiredly, Will ran a hand through his hair, the come-down from the adrenaline rush causing his hands to tremor slightly. Taking a final glance around the street, he suddenly paused; his eyes zooming in on a slim figure slumped on the ground, propped up against a crumbling shop front.

* * *

" _I won't tell you anything"_

" _Answer me now, you stupid little boy!"_

" _Rot in hell."_

" _Hmm, it seems we have to…persuade him…"_

" _Uncle,_ _ **please**_ _"_

_Cracks of pain, slashes of agony, unable to move, to see, to_ _**breathe** _ _._

" _Tell us where they are."_

_Screaming, all he could hear was screaming, that went on and on. 'They should just put that poor bastard out of his misery', he thought numbly. Only when he realised his throat was in agony, did he realise it was him._

" _Halt, Thunder. He cannot answer if his mind is gone."_

" _Where are the NBT's?"_

"…"

" _ **Lightning**_ _! Where. Are. They?"_

" _F-fuck you, a-ass- h-hole."_

" _Thunder, continue."_

_Then he was flying through the air, hearing cries that cut through him. Then everything was gone, numb, he couldn'tseecouldn'thearcouldn'tmove, and his mom was just lying there and why wasn't she waking up?_

" _Mommy? Mommy, you gotta wake up. Sophie's crying and daddy won't get up either. Mommy? Mommy, my head hurts. Please, mommy. Mommy! Please wake up, mommy!"_

" _9-1-1, what is your emergency?"_

" _My mommy won't wake up, and my daddy isn't either."_

" _Okay sweetie, can you tell me what happened?"_

" _We were in the car, and then a monster came and threw us and now my mommy and daddy won't wake up!"_

" _Do you know where you are, sweetie?"_

" _Going to Uncle Charlie's."_

" _Is there anyone else there, sweetie? An older brother or sister, perhaps?"_

" _My sister, Sophie, but she's crying and not talking and I think she's going into shock."_

" _How do you know that, sweetie?"_

" _It was in a book my auntie got me."_

" _Okay honey, the police and an ambulance is heading there right now, okay honey? You're going to be just fine."_

" _Okay."_

 _The devil was coming closer with each step._ " _Is it_ _ **fear**_ _or_ _ **courage**_ _that compels you, boy?"_

_Run, run, don't stop, don't look back_

" _So_ _ **weak**_ _"_

_Oh Primus, he's going to hurt the kids. nononono_

" _You may live to be my_ _ **pet**_ _"_

_Oh shit, Jazz, Jazz was gonegonegone and why did that hurt so much, he had only met him and Bee couldn't walk and he couldn't see Ratchet and Ironhide was running directly into the fray, the Ranger's were missing, Mikaela was unseen, Miles was hurt and Optimus was going head to head with Megatron and oh shit, he couldn't_ _**breathe** _ _!_

" _Oh,_ _ **so**_ _unwise."_

_Falling. Fallingfallingfalling…_

"Kid?"

Sam's eyes flew open with a choked gasp. Mind still falling, he lurched forwards, only to be stooped by a strangled gasp of pain and a strong hand. Still panicked, his eyes darted around quickly.

Rubble all around him. Mission City. Leading against some sort of cool brick. Brick had a sign claiming 'For all your stationary ne-'. Half exploded stationary shop on main street. Beneath was cold, hard. On the ground, leaning against the shop's half-blackened wall. Man in front of him. Aged between 30-35. Ripped camouflage pants, torn muscle shirt. Took part in the battle. Short brown hair streaked with dirt, Military cut. Solider. Caucasian with sun-tanned face and arms. Deployed in Middle East. Tattoo on right bicep. Ranger. Silver dog tags. Rank indented. Captain. Brown eyes, showing concern and recognition. Already met.

Captain William Lennox.

Risk: High.

Threat at the moment: Non-existent. Ally. Safe.

"Yes?"

Captain Lennox looked at him, frowning at the tightness around the boy's eyes. His jaw was clenched tight and it was pretty damn obvious he was in pain.

"You okay, kid? You seen a medic?"

"Wha? Ah-no. No, I-I'm fine. Really. There are loads of people hurt more than me, they need priority."

Will raised an eyebrow. He had heard enough to know the kid at least had a concussion. Reaching down, he softly grasped one of the arms the kid had half-hidden behind his back, only to let go as if burned when he let out a cry of pain. Sam shrunk back against the wall, his arms across his chest protectively. The kid's arms were bright red and bloody, as if he had held them over an open fire.

"Jesus Christ! Why the hell didn't you say anything?"

Sam shrugged, biting down hard enough on his lip that it started to bleed lightly.

"Didn't realise." He bit out between gritted teeth.

Will's eyebrows shot to his hairline. "You didn't realise half your arms look like bloody steaks?"

Sam said nothing, eyes squeezed together tightly as he tried to control his breathing. Leaning down, Will grabbed the kid around the waist and carefully helped him to his feet, careful not to touch his arms. When the kid was steady, he started to lead him up the street, eyeing his limp with worried eyes.

"You know, you got half the guys searching for you?" the captain said lightly, trying to diffuse the tension and shaking his head amusedly when the teen burst into fast-paced, infuriated Italian which didn't seem to compliment his idea of sneaking off.

"I swear, I left for a minute to catch my breath and you end up waking me up! Cazzo! Idiota stupido! Miles e Mikaela stanno per uccidermi! Stupido, stupido, stupido!

Hesitantly, Will patted him on the shoulder, trying hard not to grin at his part-disgruntled-part-oh-shit-I'm-dead expression. "I'm sure they won't  _kill_  you-"

"SAMUEL JAMES WITWICKY!"

"I take it back."

Mikaela and Miles were running towards him, Miles leaning heavily on a pair of crutches. Both had a strange purple gel on their many scrapes and bruises, but other than that seemed unhurt. Both also looked both deathly furious and relieved at the sight of the missing third of the trio.

"Where," Mikaela began, her voice a furious whisper that made Sam cringe, "the  _hell_  have you-"

"-What in the name of Hades did you do to your arms?" Miles cut the girl off, his eyes locked on Sam's arms. Mikaela's eyes darted down, her face bleaching white. Sam cleared his throat embarrassedly, shifting on the spot.

"Well-"

"-Samuel?" The teen spun round, looking up at concerned blue optics of Optimus. "What in the name of Cybertron happened to you?"

Sam blinked at the concern in his voice. There it was again.  _Concern._  He couldn't help but eye the bot suspiciously. What was his game? Why did he care? Was he worried he was going to blame to bots for his injuries and exploit it to the higher uppers, when they finally showed up? Of course, he wouldn't, but he should reassure him anyway.

"Eh, it's nothing. Really. You're all making a fuss outta nothing!"

Miles rolled his eyes, Mikaela huffed something about having a 'martyr complex' and Lennox and Prime shared a confused glance. Blinking away his confusion, for the boy's injuries were hardly  _nothing_ , Optimus knelt down and offered the boy his palm. And, surprisingly, due to the experiences he had had over the last few days, he got on. Cradling the fragile human carefully, the Prime straightened up and easily manoeuvred his way down the rest of the street to where the battle-worn bots had set up HQ, the other three humans following at their own pace.

"Where are we going?"

"To Ratchet, so you can have those injuries seen to."

"Aw, come on, Prime! It's not that bad! I mean, Ratchet doesn't need me wasting his time! Ironhide looked pretty hurt, and Bee was real bad too, not to mention yourself! They need priority."

"Who need's priority?" a soft English voice asked. Sam almost jumped out of his skin at the sound of Bumblebee's voice, a relieved smile sliding onto his face when he realised the yellow scout was healed. Flicking his eyes over, the tension drained from his shoulders slightly when he also saw Ironhide sitting on the ground in what looked like forced bed rest, his black chassis plated with a few odd silver repair plates.

"PRIME!"

The teen gave a startled yelp when he was suddenly swept out of Optimus' servos and placed on what seemed like a bed-turned-examination-table stolen out of the nearby furniture store. He suddenly came face-to-face with the irritated medic, who was tearing Optimus out for not bringing Sam to him immediately. The medic kept ranting as he slathered Sam's arms in an odd smelling green gel, (" _Holy_ _ **shit**_ **,** what the  _ **hell**_  is in that stuff? Acid?"), and bandaged them, discarded his shirt, hissing at the black-blue-purple-green-yellow-and-red patches of bruising that covered his chest, ("You look like a…what is the word? Rainbow?" "Shut-up, Bee" "Three bruised ribs, five cracked and  _seven_ broken! Only by the Thirteen's will have you not passed out yet!"), and was currently medicating Sam for his concussion.

"- _immediately_  and  **what**  in the name of  _ **Primus**_  did you do your arms?"

The teen blinked, taken back slightly at the medic's quick fire questioning.

"Ah, well, the Allspark-"

" _ **What!**_ _"_

Sam jumped, wincing at both the volume of the shouts and the flash of pain from his injuries as he looked into the shocked faces of the Autobots.

"Well, when the Allspark was, you know, disintegrating, it kinda…burned a little?" The reply trailed off to a question, the teen shaking his head, trying to shake away the fuzziness that was clouding his vision and thoughts.

The Autobots continued to stare, then swung around to look to Optimus, the resident expert on all things Allspark. The blue opticed mech looked at Sam pensively, one arm crossed against his chest, his other propped up against it and his finger tapping the side of his cheek.

"Strange," it was murmured, not really talking to anyone, rather just musing aloud, "if anything, the energy should have been pushed away, rather than drawn towards you…"

"Are you calling me a liar?" The three humans, who had just caught up, winced as Sam's ice-cold words cracked like a whip. Snapping out of his muse, Optimus met Sam's glacier eyes.

"Of course not," he hastened to assure the teen, "merely wondering."

After a slight pause, Sam's shoulders relaxed and he nodded, his eyes becoming warm again.

"Maybe it's because of the Allspark energy in Sam's cells?"

Bumblebee suddenly found himself at the end of several confused and slightly worried stares. Ironhide slowly got to his pedes and came to stand just behind Ratchet. "Did the fall scramble Bee's processor?" he asked into his audio, only half joking. The yellow scout scowled at the Weapon's Specialist, "Scan him yourself!"

Sam shivered as three cold beams scanned over him, the results causing the three older bots to burst into their native tongue.

"You know, guys," Sam started; his arms crossed stiffly, "it's really not reassuring when you scan me then start freaking out in a language I don't understand."

That shut the bots up very fast. They shared a glance, their optics darting to Bumblebee's, almost sighing at his smug 'grin'.

"I apologise for any worry caused." Optimus soothed, his deep voice soft, "We were merely surprised at the results revealed to us. Perhaps Ratchet can explain better."

All eyes and optics flew back to the tall medic. Ratchet blinked and then cleared his throat.

"Well Samuel-"

"-Sam."

Ratchet paused, his optics locking on the copper haired boy who was casually swinging his legs. "Pardon me?"

"My friends call me Sam," The boy turned around to look at the other bots and Lennox, pushing down the grief that accompanied Ally's fervent promise, ' _You can trust them_.'

"And, after the whole running-and-fighting-for-our-lives, I think you guys have earned that right."

Bumblebee 'grinned' at the boy, Ironhide tilted his head slightly and nodded, William winked at the boy and Optimus smiled lightly and nodded. Ratchet 'blinked' and continued.

"Very well,  _Sam_. Simply put, you have Allspark energy buried deep in every cell in your body."

Silence.

The Autobots looked at each other, then back to the boy. Mikaela had a hand slapped over her mouth and the two human males had equal looks of shock. All eyes were on the suddenly pale teen.

"Explain." A demand.

"It seems to be locked, tied in very tightly with your DNA and impossible to remove. Judging by its half life, I can determine that it has resided in your cells for exactly seventeen years, four months and nine days."

Miles' eyes shot to the sky, his lips moving soundlessly as he counted backwards until he questioned, "Sooooo…since he was born then?"

"Correct."

"How? How could there be Allspark energy in my cells since I was born, when the first time I came in contact with it was-" Sam's frantic question suddenly cut off as he took a steadying breath and was there a glitch in Bee's processer or did his eyes just flick to Miles?

"-was this morning."

Ratchet could only shrug. "I'm afraid I simply do not have enough data at this moment in time, Sam. I'll need to take more tests…" He trailed of, talking to himself more than Sam.

"So," Will jolted Ratchet out of his pondering, "How could this affect the kid?" The army captain had his arms crossed and was leaning against a burnt out car, looking far too comfortable with both the situation and the tall, heavily armed alien robots to be normal.

"Like I said, at the moment I simply cannot say. However, I cannot seem to find any medical issues as side effects. This, I'm afraid, is all mere guesswork. We've never experienced anything like this before; I'll have to rely on Sam himself. Sam, have you experienced anything…odd?"

Ratchet's gaze pinned Sam, ancient and calm and Sam wanted to spill everything. His dreams, being able to understand some Cybertronian, the 'other' that sometimes took over him. The words were on the tip of his tongue, the urge to spill everything, to finally understand why he was different overwhelming; the plea to no longer feel like a  _freak_ was racing through him.

He opened his mouth…and closed it again. He couldn't. He just couldn't. If he was different, more naïve, less goddamn weary of the whole damn world and everyone in it, maybe he would have. But he isn't. How could he tell them? How could he trust these complete strangers not to turn on him for their own gain? His own family had done it, why should they be any different? Where was their proof that they wouldn't hurt him?

Easy. There wasn't any.

 _You can trust them,_  Ally's voice seemed to echo in his ear.

' _Yeah, well, let's look what happened to the last people I trusted, hmm?_

_Ivy: Dead._

_Fault line: Went off the deep end after Ivy's death, blames me for it and wants me dead._

_Snowstorm: Walked out without so much as a look back or a goodbye._

_Aqua: Would sooner run me through than put me out if I was on fire._

_The Director: Sees me as a traitor to the family, a threat larger than the Cybertronians and wants me dead._

_Yeah,'_ he thought to himself,  _'Let's trust a random group of strangers with enough information that could blackmail me into the next century! That's_ _ **smart!**_ _'_

"Sam?"

"Nah. Nothing"

"Except how you can speak and understand the Speech of Sparkling's." Bumblebee interrupted casually. The Autobots turned slowly to stare at the yellow scout who had knelt down and was now letting Miles and Mikaela rest by holding them in his palm.

Their optics slowly moved back to Sam, who was looking anywhere but at them.

"That's," Ironhide shook his head, staring at the human, "That's not possible. Human vocal chords cannot produce the sounds needed."

The older bots shared a look, then Ironhide turned around.

" _Come on lil' ones."_

Will straightened up as three small NBT's made their way out from behind one of the cars beside Ratchet's foot. The steering wheel clung to the Mountain Dew dispenser's shoulders and the X-Box trailed along side. They approached warily, until they caught sight of Sam. Immediately, their optics brightened and they raced over to him.

" _Allspark boy! You're safe!"_

The steering wheel gave a grin, took a flying leap and clung to the boy's shoulders, chattering excitedly. The Mountain Dew dispenser sat on the ground, his helm resting against the teen's leg and the X-box hopped up onto the bed and pressed his helm into Sam's side.

" _We thought you were gonna get squished!"_

Sam laughed, but it was an odd, choked sound. Bee tilted his head, looking down at the boy who had ducked his head, but not quick enough to hide his suddenly suspiciously bright eyes. Tilting his head slightly, Bumblebee also noticed that Miles had done the same, his blonde hair shielding his own sky-blue eyes.

" _Nah, I'm too fast to get squished."_

Even though he had already heard it, it was still a shock to hear the boy speaking to the younglings, Bumblebee's surprise mirrored by the other three. Sam shivered once more as Ratchet's beams slid over him, the medic numbly trying to get a reading.

"Prime? Any ideas?"

Optimus continued to stare at the boy who was whispering softly to the younglings, only when called again did he look away.

"It is possible," he began, "that, perhaps, this has something to do with Sam's great-great-grandfather."

Sam looked up, head tilted slightly. "Explain, please."

"When your grandfather touched Megatron, the information was imprinted directly into his head. Perhaps, the energy transferred during that merely increased and concentrated with each passing generation. Furthermore, when the Allspark was destroyed, possibly some of its energy may have been drawn to that which lay dormant in your cells, though it dissipated before it could be recorded."

Ratchet had a thoughtful look on his face. "Plausible. It seems to be the theory that fits best; I'll try and confirm it at a later date."

Optimus dipped his head, his optics drawn back to the teen who was whispering stories to the younglings. His words were soft, calm and the younglings' optics started to darken. After a few more minutes they were out cold, the terrifying battle they had been born into tiring them out. Sam continued to hold the three, his hand drifting over their helms lightly, causing the Autobots' to narrow their optics slightly. A human would, for example, stroke a baby's nose to help it sleep, while a Cybertronian would drift a servo over the sparkling's helm. But how could this human boy know that and do it so naturally, it seemed as if he had done it before?

"One thing I do not understand." Will broke the silence with a whisper, careful not to disturb the sleeping younglings, "What's up with them? They weren't here before, were they?"

Ironhide looked at the captain with untrusting optics, searching his face for something. When it seemed he had found it, he flicked them back to Prime, who gave a tiny, barely there nod.

"They were created by the Allspark during the battle. They'd be our version of a human baby. "

Will's eyes widened, then they narrowed slightly, confusing swirling in them. "But, they seem like they're years old, not hours."

Optimus answered this time. "That would be due to the conflict they were brought online during. Unlike human infants, each sparkling is born with a set of protection codes. If the sparkling is endangered, these will activate and the sparkling's processer will rapidly mature to the mentality of a human child of seven years old."

Will and Mikaela's lips formed soft 'O''s, and once again, Miles and Sam barely reacted. Ironhide stared at the two, slightly put-off by their lack of reaction, as if they had already known that.

Miles knew the persona both he and Sam held up was slipping, but he was just  _so tired_. Between fighting the NBE's in an all out battle and being sent back to S7 HQ, they were both physical and emotional wrecks. And it didn't help that the one thing that was constantly nagging at the back of their heads was the one thing they so desperately wanted to forget.

_They know. S7 know you're alive. They know where you live. Nowhere is safe. You have to run. Run, run,_ _**run.** _

"But, the other ones didn't react like that."

Time froze. Mikaela suddenly found herself on the receiving end of three steely looks.

"What. Other. Ones?"

Seeing that Mikaela had completely froze up, Miles took a deep breath and started explaining, carefully omitting some details, like how Frenzy knew Sam, fabricating a story about running into him on a holiday to Vegas a few years ago. After his brief but thorough explanation, he tensed, just waiting for the explosion.

He wasn't long in waiting and when it happened, he was glad that they were far enough away from the human HQ not to draw attention.

" _THEY DID_ _ **WHAT!**_ "

"HOW  _DARE_ THEY!"

"FRAGGING  _ **SPARKLINGS!"**_

Only Optimus was silent, but Miles honestly wished he had shouted, as the fury in his optics and the shaking of his servo's was kinda, okay,  _really_  terrifying. After a few minutes of furious ranting, it was clear Sam had had enough. Putting two fingers to his lips, he mimicked Mikaela's earlier whistle, causing the Autobots to immediately clasp their hands over the audios due to the high pitched sound.

"Okay, I get that you guys are pissed. Very understandable, but how about instead of freaking out, you start doing something useful like getting ready for transport, so you can  _get_ to the sparklings that still need you and get some justice for the new sparks, hmmm?"

Ratchet spun round to ask the organic just who did he think he was when he met his eyes. And he saw the genuine understanding and anger there, and the unspoken promise that they  _would_  get justice. So the medic sighed and nodded, immediately moving to start to pack up.

Will immediately departed to speak with the newly arrived SecDef, Miles following and returning minutes later with Frenzy and the Noki-bot.

" _Sam!"_

The bot collided with Sam's middle, the Noki-bot scrambling onto his shoulder, both of them chattering excitedly. Frenzy's stutter was gone, much to his obvious delight. Sam laughed, pressing his forehead to their helms, another abnormal thing for a human to do. Frenzy was in the midst of telling Sam all about, 'the pretty blonde femme with funny words' when he suddenly trailed off, looking up at Optimus' tall red and blue form. Optimus smiled down at the youngling, carefully hiding his shock at the sight of five younglings/sparkling sitting together, a sight he had never thought he'd see again. The youngling that had been introduced as Frenzy looked to be even younger than Jolt-Ratchet and Wheeljack's 'surprise'- and _he_  had been thought to be the last sparkling born. The youngling was looking up at him with bright optics and a smile on his lips.

What he said next would make Optimus almost splutter in shock.

"Hiya, uncle Orion!"

Ironhide spun so fast the silver plating slipped on his chassis, causing Ratchet to curse him and instantaneously jump to his side to heal him while still staring at the tiny youngling.

"Sorry little one, what did you call me?"

"Uncle Orion! That's what creator says to call you anyways."

Optimus blinked and turned to look at Bumblebee, who could only shrug, just as mystified.

"And, who is your creator, little one?"

"Barricade!"

This time, Ratchet didn't complain when Ironhide slipped his plating again.

* * *

"' _Cade, what are you doing?"_

" _Frag off, Dijon."_

" _The frag I will. You're dropping out of The Force? Why?"_

" _It's none of your damn business."_

"' _Cade, please talk to us."_

" _There's nothing to talk about Ratchet! I quit!"_

" _Why?"_

" _For Primus sake-not you too! Frag it Orion, just leave it!"_

" _Is someone threatening you? Is that it?"_

" _Primus, Jazz. Just. Drop. It."_

" _No."_

" _Prowl..."_

" _No. You've worked you're entire life for this! You're_ _ **this**_ _close to becoming chief! What's stopping you!"_

" _ **Nothing!**_ _"_

" _Then why are you dropping out!"_

" _Because I have got a better offer!"_

" _...where from?"_

" _None of your Primus damn business."_

" _Barricade!"_

" _Shove off, Max"_

" _No! Who are they?"_

" _...Freedom Fighters. They're fighting for equality between the divisions."_

" _Who. Are. They?"_

" _They're called the Decepticons."_

* * *

"Guys?" The Autobots snapped out of the past, looking down at William Lennox. "We've managed to get an old Air force base just outside Tranquillity. It's not much, but it'll do for now, until we get treaties and whatnot sorted out."

Optimus nodded, respect and gratitude flaring in his optics. "Thank-you."

Immediately, the other three Autobots transformed back into their Alt-modes. Optimus carefully hooked the trailer that carried Jazz's body onto Ironhide, him being the only one with the necessary equipment to pull it. The tarpaulin that Miles had borrowed (Read: nicked) from a nearby garage covering the body slipped slightly, giving Optimus a glimpse of Jazz's empty face. The Prime shuttered his optics for a click, and reached out slowly. His servo lightly rested on his helm, tracing a glyph across it. After a moment, he stepped back quickly, transforming swiftly.

Bumblebee pulled up alongside Sam, opening his driver's door invitingly. The boy gave a tired smile and slipped in, Frenzy on his lap and the Noki-bot that was  _still_  yet to be named on his shoulder. Miles slipped into the passenger seat and Mikaela into the back. Mikaela had the X-box now named Halo on her lap, while Dew and also yet to be named steering wheel rode with Ratchet.

* * *

By the end of the day, three people wanted to bang their heads against a table. Will, having to deal with politicians as he tried to get a treaty drawn up that would benefit the Autobots; something that took almost six hours of solid negations. Optimus, trying to help Will in any way while trying to help the remains of his first command find somewhere to recharge. And Sam, who had personally been called up to speak to the President. Unfortunately, that meeting didn't go very well.

" _America thanks you, son."_

" _My pleasure to do my duty for my country, sir."_

" _Good boy. Willicky, I'm sorry, but you seem very familiar, but I just can't place you."_

" _I think you are mistaken, sir."_

" _No, I'm sure I...wait...your name isn't Willicky, is it, son? It's_ _ **Witwicky**_ _."_

" _..."_

" _...Agent Lightning?"_

" _..."_

" _Agent Lighting, this is a direct command. Answer me."_

" _...Yes,_ _ **sir**_ _?"_

_**-Some arguing later-** _

" _You cannot do that!"_

" _Look, kid, I'm sorry. I really am. I'm sorry for what has been done to you, but if it gets out about the Elites', I can kiss my office goodbye. So here's the deal. Neither you, your partner or anyone else say a_ _ **thing**_ _about the Elites and none of you will end up in a high security cell for acts of terrorism and branded traitors' to our country."_

" _The Autobots' deserve the right to know. They deserve to know what they are up against!"_

" _You tell them, and the treaty is off. The NBT's are under American property and will be returned for experimentation. William Lennox and his team will be discharged without honours, Captain Lennox arrested and his daughter placed in a care home. We will remove the Autobots from American soil and Miss Banes will disappear. Is that_ _ **clear,**_ _agent Lightning?"_

" _...Crystal."_

* * *

And now, Mikaela, Miles, Sam and Will were piled into Ironhide's alt-mode as he did a 'homerun', as Ratchet didn't want Bumblebee transforming too often until his legs were given the all clear. The drive mostly passed in silence, the four humans too exhausted by the dramas of the day to make conversation. That was, until, they got to Mikaela's home. The girl looked out the window and gave and odd, choked gasp.

Sitting on the front lawn was five large cardboard boxes with her name on it. A clear sign.

_Get Out_

Miles jolted upwards with a string of curses that nearly made  _Lennox_  blush. Ironhide slowed to a stop and the three teens jumped out. Mikaela ran to the door, hammering on it and shouting through the mail slot.

Ironhide was confused. It was obvious that Mikaela's carer could hear her, so why was she answering her? Judging by Lennox's sudden rapid increase in blood pressure-clear sign of anger-this was not normally done.

"William?"

Will jumped as Ironhide voice drifted out of the stereo.

"Yeah?"

"I do not understand." The war-hardened warrior was noticeably frustrated. "Why is Mikaela's carer not letting her in and why are her belongings on the...lawn?" Ironhide paused as he tried to find the correct word. Will's eyes drifted back to the teens. Mikaela was openly crying into Sam's chest, the copper-haired boy rubbing soothing circle's on her back. He shared a look with Miles and the blonde jumped up from the box he had been kneeling beside, making his way back over to the disguised bot.

"I think her aunt has just kicked her out."

Ironhide didn't get a chance to question him further when the blonde arrived at the driver's side window, his entire body trembling and jaw tight.

"Can we put the boxes in your flatbed? Keala is going to stay with us."

Ironhide grunted in confirmation and Miles was gone, already moving the boxes.

Sam eventually coaxed the girl back into Ironhide's alt, still muttering soothing babble. Will leaned back to whisper to Miles, "Anything I can do?"

The blonde shook his head. "Nah. She's just been looking for an excuse."

They continued in dead silence, other that Mikaela's broken sniffs every now and then. Ironhide was still completely confused. Mikaela's aunt was her kin, why would her kin 'kick her out'?

* * *

"Just take a left here, thanks..." Sam trailed off, his eyes locking in on the commotion that was filling the end of their street. About four fire engines were parked down the street, a cop car idling and half the neighbourhood gathered outside...

"In the name of the Gods'..." Ironhide didn't even get time to stop as the boys shot out of the truck, deaf to the shouts from inside, injuries forgotten as they darted through the crowd who quickly parted, and whispers breaking out like wildfire.

The two boys came to a stop, Sam slowly sinking to his knees at the sight of the burnt out shell that was his family home. Miles swayed, gripping his shoulder tightly. Mikaela arrived at his side, her hand flying to her mouth at the devastation in front of her.

The front door was hanging off its hinges, the inside blackened. The windows were gone, blown out by the look of the shattered glass on the lawn. One half of the roof had crumbled inwards, spilling into Sam and Miles's bedrooms. Through the empty windows, all the three could see was black. The walls were stained it, and where there wasn't black, there was water damage from where the emergency services had tried to put the raging inferno out. They weren't allowed to enter it, the structural damage so great that the house would have to be torn down to its foundations and rebuilt from scratch.

The next hour or so passed in a blur. Sam sat on the cold sidewalk, his head in his hands.

Arson.

It had started in his room; some sort of fuel that burned violently had soaked his bed, walls, curtains and floor. From there it spread outwards, the flames greedily consuming everything in their path. Almost all he and Miles's clothes were gone, save a couple of t-shirts, a few hoodies and a pair of jeans. Practically all their books were gone, save a few that had been in the basement. On the bright side, the basement had been untouched, so Sam and Mikaela's guitars and Miles' drum set was safe, as was Sam's sketch books and their music notes.

But Sam would have given it all up for one thing.

The photos. The photos were gone. Burned up or so badly smoke damaged that they were unrecognisable. His parents' wedding; birthday parties; Christmases; Halloweens, all were gone, practically none had survived. He had about five pictures, the rest ruined.

And who had done it? Several of the neighbours had reported that about half-a-dozen black SUV's had pulled up outside the house around noon. Strange people in black cloaks and masks went into the house and came out about half an hour later, driving off with great speed. Barely minutes later, fire exploded in Sam's room and the whole house was blazing in seconds. One of the firemen had produced a small square of cloth that had been left in his room  _after_  the fire, but by whom none could say. Jet-black with the silver crescent moon in the centre, surrounded by seven stars.

The Elites.

In pure spite, they had burned the only thing that connected Sam to his family. And now he, Miles and Mikaela were homeless.

Ironhide had eventually got parked in the driveway of the devastated house and was currently relaying everything to Prime. Lennox moved over to the cop, throwing away his salute. "Have Sam and Miles's parents been contacted?"

The greying cop looked at him, as if waiting for the punch line. When none came, he flicked his eyes over to the two teens and dropped his voice to a whisper.

"Sir, Witwicky's parents have been dead since he was six. Lancaster's ma died having him and his da walked out before he was born."

Ironhide's headlights flashed on and off quickly.

Lennox was pretty sure he was imitating a goldfish. "Sorry,  _what?"_

The cop nodded slowly. "I knew the family well."

"W-well...who looks after them?" Will was floundering, his eyes darting to the two boys and back. The cop seemed to grow even quieter, his eyes flicking to the boys and back so quickly it was starting to give the captain a headache. "Well, sir, Witwicky went to live with his uncle when he was seven and he came back when he was fourteen. Alone, except for Lancaster, who was living in the house. The boy was...well he was...basically, sir, he looked like he was being-"here the cop went silent, paused for a moment and then mouthed,  _'hurt'_ , "-by his uncle. He had a bunch of forms basically giving him guardianship over himself and Lancaster. Lancaster has an aunt somewhere, but god only knows where she is, and Witwicky has no other family, all gone. They only have each other."

Lennox was blinking at the man, his mouth dry. Unwillingly, his eyes moved back to the three teens. Sam was in the same position, his head buried in his hands. Mikaela had one arm wrapped around his shoulders, the other holding Miles' hand tightly as he rested his head on her shoulder.

 _Hurt by his uncle. Alone. All gone. Only have each other._  The phrases circled in his head as he made his way over to the trio.

"Hey."

Three heads darted up, the two boys' faces completely empty, Mikaela's filled with worry. "I'm so sorry. Is their anywhere you can stay?"

Sam shook his head. "No. But don't worry about us," he pulled a very fake looking smile onto his face, "we'll be alright." He dropped to a mumble, talking more to himself, "We always are."

Will went to open his mouth, and then closed it again. This action was repeated several times before he gave up, making his way over to Ironhide. After a few minutes, he was back at the teens' side, only this time with a grin on his face.

"Alright, get up." Lennox blinked when Sam and Miles jumped to their feet, Mikaela only seconds later, looking as if they had had obedience drilled into them. After staring at eachother for a few seconds, Miles finally spoke.

"What are we doing?"

"Grab your stuff, you're coming with us!"

"Huh?"

"Orders from both SecDef and Prime. You're going to be staying at base!"

* * *

Unknown to them, somewhere far off planet, a single seeker crash landed on Nemesis. Energon spilled from his wings as he pulled himself across the floor, propping himself up against the wall, ignoring the shooting pains in his wings for the ones in his spark. Snapping out a few commands, the room darkened and holo's began playing across the walls. The Seeker watched as the strong, caring silver mech taught a good for nothing Gamma how to be an Airborne Commander. And all alone, in the cold ship, Starscream's optics melted into violet and he mourned his friend, Maximus Pax.


	17. Sparkling Matters

Ratchet looked on with worried optics. Mikaela was shivering slightly and Miles looked as if the ground had been pulled out from under his feet. Sam, it seemed, had gone into shock. Lennox had led them to where they would be staying and returned to the silent Autobots, his face grave. None spoke for a moment, until Ironhide broke the silence.

"William?"

The army captain startled slightly, looking up at the Warrior. "Yeah, 'Hide?"

"I do not understand what the law official said. What did he mean, when he spoke of Sam's Carrier's brother hurting him?"

The two newly instead NEST head looked at each other, Epps rubbing his hand across his eyes.

Needless to say, the following conversation was not a fun one, with the two men determinedly not meeting the horrified mechs' optics as they spoke of the subject. Both tried not to wilt at Ironhide's furious snarling, Ratchet's cussing and Prime and Bumblebee's horrified silence.

* * *

**One week later**

"Guys? Can we talk to you?"

The mechs and Rangers looked up from the various things they were doing. The day, which had been filled with even more meetings, was winding down to a close, leaving the Allies to finally have some time to relax. Sam and Miles stood in the centre of the Autobot hanger, their eyes pointedly locked on a gap of empty space above Optimus' head. The two had come to the mutual decision last night that they would tell the Autobots about the other sparklings. They had held back until now, wanting to make sure that the Autobots  _truly_  meant the sparklings no harm.

Sharing a glance, the Allies moved closer slightly, curious to what the teen saviours had to say.

"We have something to tell you guys. Um, you know the way we said we had never met your kind before? Well, ah, that wasn't  **exactly**  true, kinda." Miles scratched the back of his neck nervously, feeling unusually unnerved by the unblinking stares of the room. Normally, this sort of situation wouldn't throw him at all, but funnily enough he found himself actually caring about what these strangers felt about him. For someone that had been told since he was eight to only ever trust one other person, it was quite an unsettling situation. The unblinking stares of the Allies weren't helping any.

"Explain." Optimus' voice was razor sharp, causing the blonde to squirm slightly. This was the reason that Lightning was the 'smooth-talking' politician and he was the 'go in guns blazing' guy!

"Well, uh, you see-"The blonde turned to look at Sam, his eyes showing the other boy only the barest hint of panic. The red-head scoffed slightly, flicking his bangs out of his eyes.

"Couple years ago we were in Vegas-"

"-Why were you in Vegas? " Epps suddenly found himself at the receiving end of the Cybertronian specialty brand of the 'death glare'.

"They were running away to get married." Mikaela replied, completely deadpan. Completely thrown and still not quite used to human sarcasm, the bots once again shifted their gazes to the two teens, which merely caused them to roll their eyes in response, "Ignore the comedian."

Clearing his throat, Sam brought the attention back to the situation at hand.

"Anyway, while we were in Vegas, we came across a crash involving a van with what we now know was the S7 symbol across the side. We went to check out the back and, well..." Sam trailed off slightly, unsure how to spin this into a believable lie. The teen took a deep breath, steeled himself and decided just to get it over with.

"Basically, we found seven sparklings."

A heartbeat of silence. Then two. Then the explosion.

" **WHAT?!"**

" **SEVEN?!"**

" **HOLY FRAGGING-"**

The two teens flinched slightly as the shouts hit them like wrecking balls, both the Autobots and the Rangers demanding answers. Like before, Optimus stayed silent, and like before, Miles wished he had erupted, the shock and fury in his optics sending a shiver down the boy's back. After several minutes they finally quietened, waiting on edge for the boys to answer Ratchets' question, "What did you do to them?"

"What do you think? We took the sparklings and looked after them for a few months. When we realised we couldn't keep it up without being discovered, we sent them to live with Miles' aunt."

"You-you saved them?" Bumblebee's optics shone brightly in surprise. Miles' head snapped up, almost glaring at the scout.

"You think we would leave them? That would be practically handing them over to S7!" The accusation sung several. Mikaela reached over and placed a calming hand on his shoulder, narrowed eyes sweeping over the Allies.

"The reason they told you this is because last night Sam got in contact with Miles' aunt. She should arrive at the Look Out around eight tonight.  **With** the sparklings."

The group hesitated for a moment, then burst into action, the mechs quickly transforming and the Allies teaming up, screeching out of the hanger and leaving only a group of very confused soldiers, a barked command to fill in Keller and the lingering smell of burnt rubber.

* * *

The meeting had been a surprisingly spark-pulling one. The Autobots stayed in their alt modes, waiting silently and on edge, half hopeful, half ready for disappointment as the possibility of seven new sparklings after vorns of nothing seemed too much to even dare dream of. When the silver Volvo had pulled up, the two boys were already flying out of Bee, their feet barely touching the dew-soaked grass and wrenching the doors open. The two fell backwards as they were suddenly tackled by seven hyperactive sparklings, the nine of them falling in a pile of tangled limbs, laughing and crying. The remaining humans slipped out of the Autobots who quickly transformed, Frenzy (who had seemed to have forgotten her attack and had somehow become attached to Mikaela's hip) at Mikaela's side with the Noki-bot now named Chatter on her shoulder. Dew peeked out from behind Ratchet's ankle, Halo twittered excitedly from Ironhide's shoulder and Megabite (Epps learned the hard way that the steering wheel had quite the bite) came skipping beside Bumblebee. Optimus was looking at the two boys with an odd expression on his face as he took in the face-splitting smiles and tear-streaked faces of the two. A tiny femme (FEMME!) whispered something to Sam, causing the boy to throw his head back and laugh, his smile free and eyes bright. It occurred to the flamed bot that in that moment, when he was free of the nightmares that haunted his every step, that by human standards the boy could be called  _beautiful_. The large mech 'blinked', shaking his head jerkily and pushing the odd thought to the back of his processor.

The seven sparklings had relocated, three hanging off Miles, two off Sam and the two others (FLYING FEMMES!) circling around their heads. Coming up behind them was a woman in her early thirties with chestnut hair and a warm smile. As the two boys pulled up beside the awe-stuck Cybertronians, the sparklings looked up at them with awe in their own optics.

"Who are they?" The little femme in Sam's arms whispered, her mouth forming a perfect 'O'. The boy grinned and the Allies were once again struck at how peaceful the boy looked.

"They," Sam grinned up at the bots, "are Cybertronians. You're going to stay with them now."

* * *

Ratchet studied the datapads in front of him with heavy optics. The full-body scans taken of the three teens after they had moved into the base were glaring brightly back at him. Mikaela's wasn't so bad; minor cuts and bruising; a scar on her cheek from Mission City that probably wouldn't fade; a broken arm from when she was twelve, all routine stuff. The two boys, however, were a completely different story.

Miles' right arm had been broken and re-set so many times Ratchet was slightly surprised it was still usable. Both his legs had been crushed at some point. Healed hairline fractures weaved through his bones like a spider's web. Uncountable scars, most naked even to the Cybertronian optic, showed the medic that a soldier hid behind the blonde's messy bangs and sky-blue eyes. The other teen, though, was not a soldier. That much was obvious. If anything, Sam was a commander. Not including the list of injuries, some that even twisted the battle-hardened medic's tanks, it was obvious in the way he held himself, the way he spoke to others, the practically visible aura of power that he was draped in. A week had passed since the arrival of the sparklings and though they had calmed him slightly, the organic was still as razor-sharp as ever and Ratchet was having a sinking feeling that that wasn't going to change.

Ratchet startled when he felt a light tapping on his pede. Glancing down, a tiny smile he would deny to his offlining graced his lips as the innocent face of Digi looked up at him. Reaching down, he gently lifted the tiny sparkling, achingly careful of her injured leg.  
"And how are you today, young one?"

"Okay" Digi looked up at him with big jade optics, something each of the sparklings shared, her thumb in her mouth. Digi had taken one look at the tall medic and limped over, sitting down on his pede with a claim of, "Mine."

Ironhide didn't get to laugh long before he was 'claimed' by Freeze-Flame. Bumblebee was similarly claimed by the two sets of twins and Quickfire had latched onto Optimus' leg. Chatter, Mikaela and Frenzy had been quickly drawn into the group and in a way only children could do, the three were as much a part of the rag-tag family as the teenage boys.

Within minutes, everything to do with the sparklings was sorted. Melissa would return to Germany, though still remain and aunt-like figure to the sparklings. The Autobots and the Allies would take looking after the sparklings in shifts, though each sparkling or set of twins would have one main 'guardian'. One of the flats on the corridor where the Mission City Team slept would be converted into a large dorm/nursery/playroom for the sparklings. And, most importantly, despite the Allies and John Keller, no-one was to know about the sparklings, the mere minisculus chance of S7 finding out where the sparklings were being far too great.

* * *

Miles, who was slumped across an armchair and absentmindedly scratching the rescued Storm's head, lifted his head up at Mikaela's sudden demand. Sam, stretched out across one of the sofas with Quickfire recharging under one arm, glanced up from his sketch with his eyebrow raised. Mikaela was sitting crossed legged on a two-person's couch, absentmindedly braiding her hair and her lap being used as a bed by both Sony and Sonic. The three teens were in what they had come to call the 'TV Room'. When they had arrived on base, they had made it their top priority to know the place off by heart.

The 'TV Room' was connected to the large Rec Room, which was used only by the three teens, the sparklings and the original Ranger team, by a solid oak door. Leading off from the Rec room was a long corridor which connected a series of small one and two bedroom apartments. Most of these were empty, save the few that belonged to the Mission City Team and the one the sparklings used as a large bedroom/play area. The only way to get to the Rec room was going through either the 'Human Med-Bay' which was connected to it or through the Autobot Hanger. The hanger was the largest on base and was where the Autobots slept and went about their business. Also connected to the Autobot Hanger was the 'Autobot Med-Bay'. Not too far away from both was the Human Barracks which held most of the human force of the newly formed NEST (Networked Elements, supporters and Transformers), and just a little south of that was The Hub, as it had come to be called, a tall, many windowed building filled with offices and where most meetings were held. The entire base was surrounded by large fields, perfect for training, and a shooting range had been quickly created and could used by both the humans and the Autobots.

"We need to go shopping." The girl repeated herself. The two boys shared a glance and after a short pause, Miles spoke up.

"Uh, what?"

The girl finished the braid with a tiny blue bead and flicked it backwards. "You need new clothes!" she huffed, indicating to their ragged clothing. Sam snorted lightly, going back to his sketch.

Put simply, the three teens were broke. Mikaela had next to nothing, her aunt having practically drained her bank account. Sam and Miles couldn't even have bank accounts, due to the information that they would have had to give and all their money had been in the house, which left them with nothing.

"And you're going to conjure up money...how?"

"Abracadabra!"

Sam jolted as a smooth brown paper envelope landed on his stomach. Miles caught his and Mikaela's was handed to her. The three turned to look up at Robert ("Don't call me Robert/Robbie/Bobby/Rob/Bob/Bert!" ) Epps' grinning face. Slowly, Sam opened the envelope, his other eyebrow climbing to his hair as a black credit card slipped out of it. He lifted it up warily, glaring at it as if it might explode. Miles looked up from examining his own to ask the obvious question on everyone's lips.

"What is this?"

"That-" Epps indicated to the card in his hand, "-is your thanks-for-saving-our-asses present from Washington. You get a certain amount every month until you're twenty-five, then the rest of the reward is open to you."

The two boys looked at the cards, then hesitantly turned to see, in their opinions', Mikaela's almost sadistically looking smile that reached across her face. The girl slowly got up, careful not to wake the twins on her lap. Silently, she made her way out of the TV room and into the Rec room. Nodding to the Allies, she opened the large door and popped her head into the hanger.

"Bumblebee?" Sam, Miles and Epps, who each had a sleeping sparkling on their hip, shuddered at the sickly sweet voice. "Do you think you could take us to The Mall? Me and the boys have a little shopping to do."

Never before, nor never again did Bumblebee's confirming, happy chirp seem like the sound of uttermost betrayal. Before even having a chance to argue, Epps plucked Sony out of Miles' arms, and the newly arrived captain stole Quickfire from Sam's. The two teen turned to the older men.

"Here!" Sam thrust the card back at Will, who danced out of reach with a grin. "Take it! Take it back goddamit!"

Miles ducked behind the nicely healed, just arrived on base, Fig. Unfortunately, the Ranger wasn't much help due to the fact he was nearly doubled-up from laughing so hard. The teens looked to the other Rangers, only to see unhelpful, 'if-I-say-something-she-might-turn-on-me' faces grinning back at them.

"Traitors." Miles muttered as he and Sam shared a long-suffering look and slowly made their way over to the grinning girl.

* * *

It was near dark by the time they got home. Dusk was settling thickly over the still-buzzing main city part of Tranquillity. The evening was warm, encouraging young lovers to take a stroll by the river that curled through the city, the stars were coming out to twinkle down on the Thursday night, and, leaving The Mall, two boys stumbled away from its prison gates, looking as if they were trying to escape their worst nightmares. Both were heavily weighed down by bags, their hair completely dishevelled from trying on so many different shirts and looking dead on their feet.

"Never again." Miles rasped as they made their way over to the patiently waiting Camaro and energetic girl who was leaning against the backdoor. "Training all day, non-stop? Sure. Three-day stake-out? No problem. Shopping with Mikaela?"

He turned to meet Sam's eyes and together they vowed,

"Never again."

They had almost made it to the scout when they heard it. The screech of tires, the roar of an engine, the quick transformation. Mikaela jumped to the side, her hand quickly darting down to the holster hidden by her trousers and pulling out the gun the boys bought her for her seventeenth. Bumblebee transformed fluidly, taking up stance just behind the boys. At the first noise, the two had spun, scattering their bags and training their weapons on the new-comer. Miles was the first of the humans to recognise him.

"Aww shit."

Barricade stood to full height, scanning the three teenagers and the yellow scout with flat optics. However, that is all he did. He made no move to attack whatsoever, merely stood there. Miles, never wavering his eyes nor his line of fire, leaned over slightly to whisper to Sam,

"Why isn't he attacking?"

Sam could only shrug, not moving an inch from his position. Bumblebee's doorwings twitched slightly, unsure how to continue due to the fact that the slightly older con had  _always_ reacted first. After a shivering silent second, the Ex-enforcer did something that would throw not only the ones present, but later the ones at base completely and totally out of the loop.

Slowly, making no sudden movements, Barricade dropped to one knee and placed one clenched servo over his spark.

"I herby, using the Honour of War clause 'Alpha Mark D', claim neutrality. In payment, I pledge to give the fraction 'Autobots' as much information as I can give against the fraction 'Decepticons'. In return, I ask only to be not recruited in this war, to have some place safe for my son to stay and to be reunited with my son. Will you accept my terms?"

 **:Sir?:** Bumblebee commed Optimus uncertainly, unsure how to act. Vaguely, the scout could hear arguing in the background. After a few tense minutes, Optimus' wary voice came back on the comm.

**:Very well, Bumblebee. Bring him to the Look Out. We'll take it from there.:**


	18. Twists and Turns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a note, when I refer to the 'Autobot Allies', I'm referring to the three teenagers, (Sam, Miles and Mikaela) and the Rangers, (Lennox's team from Qatar, such as Epps and Fig). The 'soldiers' are the proper American soldiers placed there by the government. None of them have fought with the Autobots yet.

"I say we just shoot the slagger now." Ironhide grumbled, shifting slightly, his cannons glowing threateningly as he kept them trained on the kneeling ex-enforcer. The con twitched, clearing wanting to say something but wise enough to keep his silence. Optimus stood, arms crossed and optics unwavering from Barricade's bowed helm. Bumblebee shifted nervously behind the con, his own weapons trained on him. Ratchet stood beside Ironhide, tapping his foot, his saw buzzing quietly. The Rangers had formed a lose semi-circle, weapons out and waiting for the command from both Prime and Lennox. A handful of the soldiers mixed with the Rangers, marked by their untrusting faces and unwillingness to turn their backs on the Autobots. Mikaela, Miles and Sam stood with Bumblebee, each wired tightly and ready to spring into action at the slightest movement. A thick silence weighed down on those gathered at the Look Out, night had taken control and the stars cast their dim light on the gathering.

"What do you want, Barricade?" Optimus' tone was flat, not angry, not disgusted, just flat. Barricade hesitated, choosing his words carefully.

"I wish only to be reunited with my son and to stay out of the war."

Ironhide snorted. "A Decepticon, looking peace? Pah!" The warrior spat on the ground. "Never trust the word of traitor."

Optimus continued to stare down the mech. He could do three things. He could turn the mech away and keep his sparkling from him. Which would most likely lead to the mech finding base, breaking into base, tearing the base to pieces, endangering both human and Autobot lives and claiming back his sparkling.

That was option one ruled out.

He could turn the mech away, but give him his sparkling. That would mean living with practically the constant worry that he had endangered the wellbeing of a sparkling, possibly one of the  _last_  sparklings.

Optimus vented deeply, offlining his optics for a second, knowing that what he was about to do was going to enrage someone, no matter what way he spun it.

"Barricade."

The mech jerked his head up, looking into the azure eyes of the Prime.

"You will come with us back to base." Optimus ignored the spluttering's of his mechs and the disbelief of the humans. "You will be stripped of your weapons and put on a probation period of seven earth months. At the end of this, should the time had passed with no incidents, your weapons will be reinstalled and you will become of member of the Autobot fraction. You will have a supervisor at all times. You will be given somewhere to recharge and you will have your son returned to your care. You will follow orders to the point. Do you agree with these terms?"

Barricade's mouth parted slightly, as even not in his most far-fetched hopes did he think such a thing would be granted. Decepticons that defected from the fraction more often than not received no protection from the Autobots, as many, despite what their superiors had ordered, did not feel that 'traitors' deserved any shelter. Loosely, he was aware of the Weapons' Specialists furious snarling, the Medic's tight words and the Autobit's infuriated twittering, but he only had optics for Prime. Hoarsely, he whispered,

"Why?"

Prime shuttered his optics and for a click,  _just a click_ , it was not Optimus speaking to Barricade, but Orion speaking to Cade.

"Because I want what is best for my people.  _All_  of my people."

Then those optics were shuttered again, waiting for Barricade's response. The mech dipped his helm and replied,

"I agree."

After that, it was merely a sharp, unarguable command of, "Transform and Roll Out" and the mix-matched group was heading back to Base.

* * *

Aqua paced inside her room, her footsteps fast and furious. A thousand thoughts buzzed in her head, a few stinging repeatedly, like an angered wasp. One in particular made her snarl in the silence.

Lightning.

At the mere thought of his name, fury sprang through the twenty-two year old, her blood boiling with fury. She was one of the select few to feel the sting of his betrayal sharper than the rest. The anger, the hurt that she felt towards him was more than just. He was a liar and a…and here she uttered the most severe insult against an Elite.

"A  _traitor_ "

It was  _his_  fault.  _His_  fault that the Elites' were scattered, on the run from the government themselves.  _His_ fault that Sector Seven was slowly being dissolved, starting with the lower levels but working its way up.  _His_  fault they were hiding like some sort of common criminals.  _His fault!_

He deserved everything the Director and the other Elites were planning. He deserved everything that was coming to him.

And yet, a tiny voice in the back of her head whispered,  _'Maybe he doesn't._ '

For she was there, at Mission City when the NBE's had torn the city apart. She had hid with the other Elites' in the shadows, waiting for their moment to strike. But unlike most, she had not only waited, but also watched. She had seen how the NBE's were split in two. She had seen, while one half destroyed everything in their path, the other had deliberately took care to try to minimise the loss of human life. She had saw when Lightning fell, ( _And her stomach had twisted and a tiny voice in her head had screamed_ ' **No!** ') the tall red-and-blue NBE had caught him. The yellow NBE came to the human Rangers' aid. The yellow-and-red one healed both the NBE's and the humans. The black one threw himself directly in line of fire for Lightning. The silver one was torn in two in an attempt to distract NBE-1 from Lightning. And somewhere, buried in the back of her mind, wondered if maybe, just maybe, Lightning had been right about the NBE's all along.

* * *

"You never did tell us, where did you learn to fight?"

Both the Autobots and the Rangers turned at Lennox's comment. The Allies were all gathered in the Autobot hanger, the various mechs both in alt and bi-pedal mode. Fig was currently on 'Sparkling Duty', so he was watching over the sleepy sparklings in their room. Mikaela sat on the ground, leaning against Bumblebee's closed door. Miles was also on the ground, leaning back against the bonnet and Sam was actually sitting on Bee's bonnet, legs crossed and shoes on the floor. The three teens suddenly felt the eyes and optics of the room on them; even the silent Barricade in the far-corner looked vaguely interested. Mikaela shrugged, keeping her eyes on the ground and distractedly pointed to the two boys.

"They taught me basic self-defence."

Sam cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "My uncle."

If Sam noticed the darkening of eyes or narrowing of optics, he said nothing.

"He, uh, was a real fitness and education freak. He wanted me to get the 'best schooling', so he decided to home-school me and he made me choose some sort of physical activity to learn growing up. So, me being the over-eager seven year old, wanted to be a 'ninja' and chose a few types of martial arts and a few weapons training. Miles' aunt was an old friend and sent him to learn as well."

The answer was spoken plainly; the teen seeming a bit embarrassed to admit that it was his choice. The explanation was also plausible, a strict uncle who wanted his nephew to be healthy, an aunt who wanted her nephew to receive the best education possible. It was very believable. It was also pure untruth, but none would doubt their word, for they had no reason to. The questioners merely nodded and turned back to the various things they were doing. Ironhide, however, made a mental note to talk to the two boys about exactly what sort of weapons they had learned to handle.

After about half an hour of talking quietly with Bumblebee, the three teens rose to their feet or slid off the bonnet, stretching and yawning.

"Alright," Miles started, running a hand through his hair, "if we're going to stay awake for Mr Gin-ge tomorrow, we better get going."

Epps popped his head up at that. "Mr  _Who_?"

Mikaela grinned, shaking her hair out of her eyes. "Mr Gingeotto. Our homeroom teacher."

The answer was met by quite a few confused stares. "Homeroom? As in... _High School_?"

The three teens blinked slightly in response to the Rangers' tone. Sam arched an eyebrow and twisted his head around to look at the Sergeant, his diamond stub winking as it caught the light.

"Yeah?"

"...How old are you three?"

Yet again, the trio blinked in response to the question. Sam ran a hand through his hair, a little unnerved at the stares from the older men.

"We're all seventeen. Mikaela was in October, Miles was a few weeks ago and I was in February."

Fig swore something in Spanish, blinking rapidly at the three. Becoming more than a little annoyed at the looks they were getting, Miles finally snapped.

"Why?"

Lennox shrugged carefully. "We just thought you were older. Like, outta High School."

The three were a little taken back at that, unsure how to answer. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Mikaela coughed and shifted a little.

"Umm, I guess we'll take that as a compliment? Anyway, g'night."

The two boys echoed her, the Autobots and the Rangers calling back their own goodnights and the door shut behind the three.

"Holy _shit!"_

At once the rest of the Rangers called out their agreement. After a few minutes of shocked and somewhat amused talking, they started to quieten down, only for Ratchet to ask the question that had been nagging at the rest of the Autobots.

"What does it matter, how old the three are?"

Will shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck, a gesture that was quickly spreading through the group.

"I don't know, I guess we all just thought they were older? I mean, they  _look_  a bit older than seventeen and they  _act_  older than seventeen. I mean, they've kinda just took the whole past two weeks in their stride."

Mummers of agreement echoed across the room. The Autobots, still not too familiar with the human concept of aging so quickly, just nodded along and let the subject drop. That is, until a few hours later, when Epps called out one last thing that had been playing on the humans' minds.

"Really boosts your respect for them, don't it?"

At once, the hanger burst into calls of agreement.

* * *

"-And so, that concludes another lesson! Now I know there is only a week of school yet, but it is still a full week we can use! So finish page 247 for homework, no slacking and no more taking days off, and yes, I'm talking to you three, Witwicky, Banes and Lancaster!"

The class sniggered as Mr Gingeotto glared at the back row. The three students in question ducked their heads, knowing that the teacher was referring to the fact that they had missed over two weeks of lessons. Of course, they had a pretty credible reason, being caught up in those crazy terrorist attacks a fortnight ago. They even had someone from the government call in to explain their absence, a Mr. O. Prime. Plus, all three looked pretty roughed up, the two boys looking close to what they did when they first arrived in the school a few years ago. As they made their way to the front of the desk too hand in their work and leave, Mr Gingeotto stopped them with a raised hand.

"So you three, how are you?"

Mikaela wanted to hug the man, she really did. Even though he was clearly uncomfortable, he still wanted to make sure his students were okay. He really did care for his students.

"We're fine sir." She smiled at him, eye twinkling, "Thanks for asking."

Mr Gingeotto nodded slowly, still not taking his eyes off them. "Yes yes, I'm sure. But remember, if you need anything; don't hesitate to ask for help."

They nodded together, keeping the smiles on their faces. Mr Gingeotto, it seemed, was still not convinced.

"Sam, Miles, I heard about what happened at your home. I'm terribly sorry. Do you need any help? Are you staying with relatives, or perhaps I could give you the number of a hostel..." He trailed off, now focused on the two boys, who shook their heads in response, but their smiles became strained, even enough for Mr Gingeotto to see.

"No sir. Thanks, really, but we're staying with friends."

The teacher nodded once more, and with one final reminder of, "Remember, you can talk to me about anything," he let them go.

As soon as they were out the door, their smiles dropped. Mikaela rubbed at the space between her eyebrows, glad that the hellish day was over. It had been tough, even for the two ex-Elites. Every shout had been a scream, every flickering light an explosion. Miles had nearly punched Trent when the jock, seeing how tense the blonde was, had the  _genius_  idea of sneaking up behind him and shouting "BOO!" in his ear, Miles' body reacted before his eyes had time to process that the jock was not a threat. Only by Sam's lighting-sharp reflexes and Mikaela's stomp on his foot had the boy narrowly avoided both Trent's face and detention. The three slipped down the steps of the school and made their way over to where Bumblebee was basking in the sun, idly browsing the internet while keeping a razor-sharp optic for Decepticons. The three were almost at the Camaro when Sam jolted to a stop.

Over at the gates of the school leaned a tall, lean nineteen year old male. Short jet black hair, black cargo pants, biker boots and a tight black shirt. A glowing cigarette hung from the corner of a pair of ruby-red lips, snakebites glinting in the sun. One ear was studded with so many piercings; it was a surprise he didn't tilt to the left. Dark shades that hid his mossy-green eyes. Tattoos sleeve-ing his arms and a black leather jacket thrown casually over a silver motorbike.

 _Sam's_  silver motorbike.

Sam spun on his heel, not quite walking yet not quite running towards the figure. Miles growled under his breath as he stormed the last few feet towards Bumblebee, but he gently opened the driver-sear door. Mikaela's lips pursed and her eyes narrowed, but she too said nothing as she slipped into the passenger seat. Bumblebee waited, not sure how to continue, unsure whether or not he should wait for Sam. Miles answered his unspoken question.

"Go on ahead, Bee. Sam will make his own way back to base."

Bumblebee's engine started, but he still didn't move. He couldn't stop the question that was trying to jump from his vocalizer.

"Miles, who is that?"

The blonde said nothing, his hands tightening oh-so-slightly on the steering wheel, not looking as if he was going to answer. Mikaela was the one to sigh deeply and answer.

"That's Mathew Cabot."

Sam was at the males shoulder now, ignoring the eyes of most of his year. He tapped it, the male jumping at the touch and spinning, yanking the shades from his eyes. They two stared at each other, Mathew's lips moving incomprehensibly. His eyes narrowed, his arms moved in sharp, angry gestures. The cigarette was pulled from his mouth and stamped on, Sam was a statue. Bumblebee inched forward, unsure what to do, if this male was a threat or not. Then something happened that caused the mech's engine to splutter in shock. The male grabbed Sam's shoulders and pulled him forward, claiming his lips with his own, while Sam's arms moved to clutch at his arms. Gasps and whispers broke out across the school ground, but Bumblebee only heard Mikaela finish her sentence.

"Sam's boyfriend."

* * *


	19. Autobot And Allies FAQ

"So when you say, boyfriend, do you mean,  _Boy-Friend_? Or,  _Boyfriend,_  boyfriend?"

Miles scrubbed a hand over his face, groaning into it. Ever since they had arrived back on base and Bumblebee had announced to Prime that Sam was spending time with his ' _boyfriend_ ', Epps hadn't let up with the questioning. Finally, when he asked for what felt the hundredth time which definition they were referring to, Mikaela snapped.

"Boyfriend! As in,  _boyfriend!_  Significant other at the moment, person who is like a girlfriend, only a guy! Got it?!"

Like a deer caught in headlights the dark-skinned male nodded, eyes wide. Lennox snorted, rolling his eyes at the sight of the battle-hardened soldier cowering in front of the slim teenage girl. Miles suddenly stiffened and spun around, his eyes narrowed and sharp.

"Why, do you have a problem?"

Epps shook his head firmly, quickly followed by the rest of the Rangers. "Why would that bother me?" the soldier started to babble, all-too aware of how powerful the blonde in front of him was. "Ain't none of my business and ain't gonna bother me? Why would it, I mean, Will here bats for both sides-"

"ROBERT!"

Robert winced, both at what he had just revealed and the use of his full name. Turning slowly, he met Lennox's angry and flushed face. "If you could leave my love-life-"

"-or lack of-"it was Fig who was suddenly cowering under the captain's furious gaze. With a muttered threat of what he would have done if they had been on-duty, Lennox continued, " _out_  of the conversation!"

A slightly awkward pause followed, only broken when Ratchet spoke up.

"Not to sound as if I am repeating myself, just what exactly is the big deal with who Sam finds as a sexual partner?"

The allies all turned to stare up at the Autobots. Mikaela rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably. "Well, you know, some people have a problem with guys liking guys or girls liking girls, you know? Or people liking both."

The Autobots shared a confused glance as Prime answered. "No, I am afraid not. What is the dilemma?"

"Well, some think it is-" Miles shifted slightly, coughing to clear his throat, "-well, unnatural. Wrong. Sick, a crime against nature."

"What in the name of Primus are you talking about?" Ironhide gazed down at the allies, face twisted in confusion.

"You-you don't have that where you're from?" Lennox somehow made the statement into a question, eyebrow raised. Ratchet shook his head quickly, his own confusion clear on his face.

"What has being in love have to do with being a crime against nature?"

"Well..." Miles drawled to word, "Some think that because two guys or girls cannot have kids together, they are committing a crime against humanity and against various religions and will burn in hell, yada yada yada"

Bumblebee cocked his head to the side, optics bright. "But, what has reproduction got to do with anything? Humanity is already on track to over-populating the earth, what does it matter if some do not produce offspring? And what sort of deity would find love unnatural?"

All four Autobots and one neutral were startled by William's sarcastic snort. "And, that right there is what practically every member or supporter of the LGBT community asks yet never receives a well founded answer for."

"LGBT?"

"Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. Look, to make things easier, just look up 'LGBT' and 'LGBT Attacks'"

The next few minutes passed in silence as the Autobots' optics dimmed and even Barricade, ever silent in the corner, couldn't hold back the shock and disgust that burned through the Cybertronians at the results they found.

"That's completely barbaric!"

"How could they do that to their own sparklings?!"

"Who are they to dictate who they should fall in love with?"

"Why weren't they brought to justice?"

"How could legal and government systems be so corrupt?"

"How can this be justified?"

"Why should they be the ones to say they could not be fit Caretakers!"

"How dare they deny them the right to link!"

"Punishable by  _offlining?!_ "

The allies had to clamp their hands over their ears due to the loudness of the shouts as the Autobots were practically shouting over eachother. Eventually, their words broke down into Cybertronian and became illegible to the humans. After a few moments they finally quietened, but still remained beyond surprised. Optimus knelt down slightly to look the humans in the eyes.

The Prime looked like he was going to say something, only to be cut off by the low thrum of an engine outside the hanger. A few seconds later Sam slipped in through the human-sized door, newly bought silver helmet under his arm. The teen glanced up from his phone, taking in the scene with a raised eyebrow. The other allies were mainly looking at the ground, scuffing their toes and looking vaguely uncomfortable while the Autobots and Barricade were looking at them, shock and disgust clear on their faces. He slowly placed his phone back in his pocket and cleared his throat.

"So...what's going on?"

Optimus looked at him carefully and Sam resisted the odd urge to squirm under that too-knowledgeable gaze. "The others were explaining...homophobia, I believe it is called?"

Sam's confusion cleared in an 'Oh!' expression, understanding dawning in his eyes as he made his way over to the rest of the humans. He pulled himself up onto one of the tables, legs swinging.

"So, I'm judging from your expression that Cybertron doesn't have the same sort of problem?"

Ironhide shook his head firmly, "Most certainly not!"

"Cybertronians do not have just two genders, but three." Ratchet spoke carefully, some small part of him telling him that these humans could be trusted not to spill any such secrets. "'Mechs' who are males, 'Femmes' who are females and 'Neutrals' who are both. A Mech can be in relations with another mech, a femme or a neutral without any such discrimination."

"But, don't you have fanatics who think that it's wrong? What about kids?" Unbeknownst to the others, Sam winced slightly. ' _Great, birds and bees. Fun.'_

"Maybe we should do this properly." Head snapped around to Will, who had his arms crossed. "This can be a FAQ meeting. We learn about the Cybertronians and they learn about us, each side explaining important things, such as traditions or social any faux pas'"

Ratchet glanced awkwardly at Optimus, who after a few moments pause ducked his helm in confirmation. The medic huffed as he leant down slightly.

"Very well. When it comes to such a thing as offspring, Cybertronians have two options." Mikaela leaned forward, a spark of something in her eyes that caught the attention of the medic. The fascination, the gleam of wanting more information and unseen, the medic smiled, knowing that he may have just gained an apprentice.

"They could create a shell and take it to the Allspark, who would determine if they would be deemed worthy to receive a child."

"But-"here Miles interrupted, glancing quickly at the suddenly blank Sam, "-But the Allspark was destroyed. Does that mean-"

"-Don't be foolish, boy!" The blonde jumped at Ironhide's gruff comment. "Do you honestly believe that we would put all of our faith in a prehistoric relic?"

"But you said-"

"That is only one way." Optimus calmly halted the argument before it could really begin. "Another was through spark merging."

"And that is-?"

A few minutes later, a very red faced O'Neill would regret asking that question. Epps coughed again, trying to clear the awkward tension. "So basically, when you lot...merge... sometimes a lil' bit of your sparks break off and smoosh together, making a new one?"

Ratchet nodded carefully. "Yes, whether this is between two mechs, femmes, neutrals or any other variation does not matter. One of the two will become the 'Carrier', what you would call a 'Mother'. The other would be a 'Generator', a 'Father'. Together, the two would be known as the sparklings 'Caretakers' or 'Creators'. The sparkling would grow inside the Carrier's carrying-hold until it is time for birth, which is very similar to how humans give birth. However this process is very rare, as the creation of the new spark is random. It means, while the birth rate for the Cybertronian race will sharply decrease, it will not come to a complete stop."

"Oh!"

If they had been talking about anything else, the looks of understanding that crossed the allies' faces would have caused the various mechs to laugh out loud. Sam almost slumped in relief, the knowledge that the Cybertronians were not going to die out, nor by his hand almost mind-numbingly relieving. After a few minutes, Lennox asked the next question.

"What about relationships? Do you guys have a concept of marriage?"

Optimus nodded slowly, hesitant to reveal such things. However, when the humans did not press, only waited patiently, Optimus continued.

"We do. If a Cybertronian has an interest in another, they would 'court' them. If the other also shares an interest, they would, as humans say, 'date'. Eventually, they may link. To link is a concept which humans do not have. It is much stronger than an 'engagement', yet not quite a marriage. Many may stay like this to the end of their days, yet some will take it a step further. They will 'bond'. To bond is much, much more than marriage. It is the linking of souls, a connection that cannot be broken. Links can be undone on both ends, but a bond is unbreakable."

The questioning did not let up on either end. It was not until late into the night did it cease, and that was only because they got sidetracked. Stories flew between the two races; the air rang with laughter, only fading when the speaker drifted off to sleep. When Fig unexpectedly woke very early next morning, he had to laugh silently at the scattered positions they had drifted off in. The Autobots were all in their alt-modes, deeply recharging. Miles was curled up on Bumblebee's bonnet, his shoes on the ground and Sam's leather jacket thrown over him. Mikaela was leaning against Ratchet's passenger door, Will's jacket thrown over her. Will himself lying on the ground, propped up against Ironhide's grill, head tilted back. Epps was flat on the ground, unmoving from where he had fallen after laughing so hard at a tale from Ironhide, his arm crooked behind his neck.

Mathews was slumped over a chair, nearly falling off it, snoring loudly. Johnson was in a position similar to Epps, while O'Neill was stretched out perpendicular to him, his head pillowed on Johnson's knees. Devlin was curled up like a cat and Law was like Mathews, sitting in a chair with his head tilted right back. The only Ranger awake had an urge to go get his camera from his room and take photos to later use as blackmail, but was too exhausted to move from his seat. Flicking his eyes around, he jolted when he realised he wasn't the only one awake. Barricade was looking at him with conflicted optics, not speaking. The two eyed eachother up until Fig murmured,

"What you still doing up, amigo?"

The Ex-con started slightly at the term 'amigo', but let it go. When he spoke, his voice was softer than Fig imagined, barely a whisper. "I was merely checking in on the sparklings."

"They alright?" Concern laced the Ranger's tone. The sparklings had quickly wormed their way into everyone's hearts and sparks, their innocent ways and smiles never failing to bring light to the veterans' eyes and optics.

"Affirmative, Frenzy was merely restless."

Fig nodded, settling back down on the bench. The glow from the various computers and giant screens was the only light in the hanger, excluding Barricades optics. "I wish I had a camera." The Ranger muttered, teetering on the edge of sleep. There was a short lull, then Barricade spoke once more, his voice aloof, yet somewhat hesitant.

"I could take holos, if you wish?"

Fig's eyes snapped open as he looked up at the mech. Then, a slow smile slid across his face.

"This, amigo, is the start of a beaut-i-ful friendship."

The mech gave a short, barely-there laugh and Fig went to shut his eyes once more, only to pause. He sat up slowly, ears straining, eyes widening when he realised what had startled him. Turning slowly, he looked over at the far-right corner. Optimus had pulled over there, still in alt-mode, yet what surprised him was who was beside him. Sam was on the ground, leaning against the driver side door, one leg straight and the other bent at the knee, a sketchpad resting against it. The boys head was tipped back, his eyes shut and Fig would have thought he was sleeping, if not for the tiny waver of his lips as he whispered to the Prime. Optimus would answer back, his own voice too low for any but the human beside him to hear. Now and then, Sam's lips would quirk up or his wrist would flick across the page, drawing something from Optimus' words alone. It seemed an intensely private moment, yet Fig couldn't resist. With a sly jerk of his head, Barricade got the message Fig was sending him and snapped a hologram, his optics lighting with an unidentifiable emotion. And with that, Fig settled back down and in seconds was asleep.

None of the Autobots or the Allies would ever realise just how important that night was in  _their_  history. During that night, bonds were strengthened and created, stories where shared and the future shifted ever so slightly.

Only one took notice. A single neutral who smirked, settling down to watch what was about to unfold.


	20. And So It Begins

**_One month later_ **

To the allies, not much had changed in the last month. Sam, Mikaela and Miles got off on their summer holidays, more soldiers trickled in and the base was gradually beginning to take shape. Annabelle Lennox arrived a few days after the 'Autobot and Allies FAQ', due to Carol getting married, and had the whole base wrapped around her tiny little fingers.

To the outside, things couldn't be more different. The Rangers no longer carried weapons when with the Autobots, the Autobots themselves were beginning to move around in their bi-pedal modes more often, the three teens were slowly starting to open up and relax and the sparklings and younglings were a permanent fixture in all the their lives. In less than a month, the humans and Cybertronians were tied together so tightly, it was as if they always had been together. Friendships had been struck up, a few that rose eyebrows and, in some cases, something more was blooming.

* * *

_**Rec Room, 20:45** _

Miles and Mikaela changed shifts, the blonde leaving to go watch over the sparklings and younglings. Normally Annabelle would be included, but ten-month old was currently balanced on her Daddy's hip, chewing on her 'Uncle Epps'' fingers, her fluffy blonde hair just dried after her bath. Will shifted her slightly; achingly careful in a way that made the other humans smile. Will was leaning against an island in the middle of the 'kitchen' section of the Rec Room that had been put in after Mikaela and the other Rangers' near-constant badgering. The girl herself was hunting for something handy to eat, while Sam sat up on one of the counters and the other Rangers leaning against various cupboards and electrical equipment. On reflection later, Will would realise just how closed off they had made him. After a few moments of silence, Law glared at O'Neil, who in turn turned to Fig. The Spanish-speaking soldier shook his head rapidly, nodding over to Mikaela, causing the girl to widen her eyes in panic and gesture to Epps. The tall Sergeant gave a 'Hell no!' expression over to Mathews, who responded by nodding pointedly to Johnson. The man blinked then turned to Sam, jerking his head towards Will. The teens' eyes widen, shaking his head rapidly, about to speak until-

"Just tell me, kid." Will wasn't captain for no good reason, he was observant enough to pick up the almost frantic game of 'I-don't-want-to-tell-the-captain-you-tell-him' that was taking part around the kitchen. After a moment and several non-verbal death threats, Sam put on a big, cheery smile and asked the question that had passed around like a hot potato.

"So, Will. When you gonna tell Ironhide you have the hot's for him?"

Unfortunately Will had just taken a large drink of water, so ended up spraying it all over Epps, choking on it at the same time. Annabelle giggled and clapped her hands, obviously finding her Daddy's difficulty breathing hilarious. The soldier merely blinked at his superior and plucked his honorary niece from his arms, muttering about 'damn teenagers and their damn timing' as he went in search of a towel.

After the captain had regained the ability to breathe, he glared at the teen and the rest of the allies, all of who had the audacity to laugh at the response given.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Oh please, Captain Lennox-!"

"-For the hundredth time, Will!"

"- _Will!_  It's pretty obvious."

The captain stared at Mikaela in undisguised horror, his face imitating a goldfish.

"I mean, you're always talking-"

"-So do you and Ratchet!-"

"-Constantly spending time with each other when off-duty-"

"-So does Sam and Prime!-"

"-Eyes and optics lingering on each other-"

"-Now you're just making this up-"

"-Nervous around him, and not because he is a giant alien robot- "

"-No I'm not!-"

"- Very defensive of him-"

"-He's my friend!-"

"-Your pheromones spike-"

"-My...wait,  _what_?!"

"Ratchet noticed."

"Shut up!"

"He likes you to."

"Don't be-wait. What?"

Mikaela rolled her eyes and couldn't stop the small smile that was forming on her lips at the suddenly quiet, thoughtful tone Will used. Epps reappeared, handing Annabelle to Sam, who immediately hugged the teen tightly and babbled to him. Sam nodded, listening intently while keeping one eye on Will and Epps, the second trying to convince the first to 'fess up.

"I have a daughter!" Epps could only roll his eyes at this response, as even Will knew it was a rubbish one. "Yeah, and Ironhide has a son! And, he is devoted to 'Bella while you are the same to Freeze! Just admit it already!"

Will sighed deeply, running a hand through his short hair. "And what am I meant to say to him, hmm? 'Oh, hey Ironhide, I think I'm falling in love with you, M'kay bye?'"

Mathews muttered under his breath, leaning forward and slapping his captain and friend on the back of the head.

"Look Will, you like him, he likes you. I am done with seeing you alone. Sarah is long gone, you've moved on and you've found a guy who likes you back. There is nothing stopping you, so just  _go for it!_ "

Mikaela blinked at Mathews, whose eyes were flashing and chest was heaving. "I don't think I've ever heard you say that much at one time."

Will closed his eyes, running a hand through his hair. They were right, of course. He liked Ironhide, like,  _really_  liked him in a way that make his head go funny and stomach twist in a way that was only described in pre-teen novels. He could think of a hundred reasons not to tell him, ranging from things like 'fraternizing at work' and up to 'conflict of interest'. Yet somehow, the fact that they were a totally different species never really factored, causing Lennox to groan audibly at that.

' _Fragging_ Hell,  _I really am in trouble, aren't I?_ '

* * *

**_Earlier that day_ **

"Is it done yet?"

"No."

"Oh...Is it done yet?"

"No."

"Ratch-"

"No Ironhide, it isn't complete."

"Right"

"Hey Ratch-"

"Bumblebee! I'll tell you when it's complete!"

"...Ratchet..."

"Slagging Pit, Prime! It. Isn't.  _Finished!"_

The three chastised bots shrunk back, buckling under the medic's wrath. Ironhide went back to cleaning his rifle, glancing up at the clock every now and then. Bumblebee started tapping the ground with his pede lightly, only to freeze when the medic turned his optics on the scout. Optimus was flicking through some datapads he had stored from the trip to earth. The Prime re-reading things he had know off by spark from sparklings-form, while settled in his specially ordered big chair, a set of six the bots had received as a present from Keller. Vaguely, he was aware of something shaking softly beside him. Turning, he smiled slightly behind his battle-mask at the sight of Barricade, who was desperately trying not to laugh at the sight of three of the most formidable Autobots cowering at one sentence from the medic. It was nice to see the mech smile again. Though Ironhide still maintained the mech was a traitor and Bumblebee was wary of the con by association, over the past month things had eased greatly and the three of them were on speaking terms. Ratchet was his usual self to the Praxian, even as going as far to call the mech 'Cade' once more. Optimus was slowly bridging the chasm between himself and the ex-con, wary of him pulling away yet eager to reconnect with another member of his very estranged family. Pushing away those thoughts, before he got pulled down and lost in memories, he focused on the datapad in hand. That extreme concentration only lasted a few minutes until Ratchet announced that, "The blasted thing was ready".

Optimus never saw Ironhide move so quickly in his entire life-span.

The thing Ratchet had been working on was known as a Holographic-Organic-hard Light-Original, also known as a H-O-L-O or 'holo'. It was generally used during the scouting-out of a planet with native life. When the Cybertronian was in 'Holo' mode, they could take on the appearance of a native and be able to react with the native wildlife and, depending on their sentience, learn the natives' ways. The 'Holo' could only be used when the Cybertronian was in alt-mode or else it would take up too much energy, controlling two bodies at once. On top of being able to use it to learn about new life forms, the 'Holo' conserved large amounts of energy, making in very beneficial to the Cybertronian, allowing the Cybertronian to feel very recharged after returning to bi-pedal mode. The 'Holo' has the ability to mimic the natives' bodies to a T, allowing them to appear like the native in every way. The programming, however, tended to vary from species to species, thus the reason Ratchet had to tweak the various coding.

The medic took the small cord out and plugged it into Ironhide's wrist. After a handful of minutes, the cord was retracted and the Warrior transformed, moving over to the far side of the hanger. Ratchet repeated the process three more time before finally transferring the data to himself. As the medic slipped into recharge, his last thought was whether or not they had asked the humans to lock the door leading into the Rec Room...

* * *

**_45 minutes later_ **

Ironhide on-lined slowly, feeling as if he had just went head-to-head with Megatron. The new programming was still flashing through him, giving the Warrior a feeling of nausea he hadn't felt since entering Earth's atmosphere. After a few more minutes, a final  _ping!_  sounded in his processor, confirming that the programming had been accepted and was now able to use. Offlining his optics once more, Ironhide brought the programming to the front of his processor and initiated it.

A strange feeling rushed through the mech's consciousness, the feeling of being  _stretched_ , being pulled. The feeling wasn't painful, just odd and  _wow!_

His consciousness suddenly snapped into place and the Warrior fell flat on his aft. There was a tiny, brief moment of panic when all the mech could see was darkness, then he onlined his...no. Then he  _opened his eyes._

And immediately shut them because  _why_  didn't anyone inform him human eyes were so damn sensitive? After a moment the Warrior opened his eyes again. And realised just how  _small_ he was. The screens lining the walls were  _huge_! Shaking his head, Ironhide looked down at himself. From what he could see, he was wearing a pair of dark jeans, a white wife beater and a leather jacket, teamed with big militarily style boots. Around his neck was a pair of cold, gleaming dog tags. Interest piqued, he lifted them up to inspect them, smirking at the sight of the Autobot symbol imprinted on the top one. The second one had his names and fraction on it, with room for something else that the bot just couldn't put a finger on. Dropping the tags, the mech lifted the gun that had appeared on his waist, holster included. He turned it over in his hands, grinning at the human-representation of his cannons, glyphs included.

After a few more minutes of inspecting, he slid it back into its holster and stretched out his arms, studying them and his hands, inspecting them from every angle. After them were deemed passable, the mech slowly, carefully and shakily got to his feet. The bot took a few tentative steps, slowly getting the use of it until he was practically running circles around his alt-mode. It was strange, being in holo-form. He was completely away from his normal body, yet it lingered in the very, very back of his mind. If he concentrated enough, he could see through his optics once more, while keeping hold of the holo-form. But only for short periods of time, he soon found out, as he practically sank to his knees, suddenly exhausted. After taking a few minutes to catch his breath, the mech hauled himself up once more, twisting slightly to check out what he looked like in his wing mirror. He was middle-aged, no older than his early forties, his Cybertronian equivalent. Healthy tanned skin with a pair of bright blue eyes and a strong jaw line. He had scars, of course. One that sliced down his right eye, a few faded lines on his cheeks and one particular one that ran from the bottom of his left ear to just below his chin. Shot dark hair with just the barest  _hint_  of silver and just a shadow of dark facial hair. He stepped back a little, taking the rest of himself in. He was built roughly along the same sort of line as the Rangers, muscled but not overly so, light enough to stay sharp on his feet.

'All in all, not bad', Ironhide flashed a smirk. 'Wonder what Will would think...'

And that's when his mind strayed, lingering on the strong, brave captain with the chocolate brown eyes. The low, warm laugh, the quirk of his lips, the way his eyes would light up-

Ironhide shook himself harshly, cursing his processor for even  _thinking_  that the captain would-

A flash of yellow flicked in corner of the mech's eyes and he spun, hand going to his belt, only to relax at what he guessed was Bumblebee grinning back at him.

While Ironhide was the picture of dark and dangerous, Bumblebee screamed light and happiness. He had a young, youthful face that could have been anything from nineteen to twenty three, messy blonde hair that  _just_  missed his shoulders and, like Ironhide, a pair of bright blue eyes. The bot grinned at him, spinning around, showing off his jeans and black top with a yellow bee on it. He too had a pair of dog tags and a gun, but also had a pair of odd trainers that, if Ironhide looked close enough at, seemed to have a pair of wheels in the back. The only thing that in anyway marred the innocence that Bumblebee was portraying was the thick, harsh white lines that tore across his throat, the injury following him into holo-form. Ironhide, vocals still off-line, followed a human gesture and stuck two thumbs up, non-verbally showing Bee that the look suited him. Bee grinned at him, pointing at Ironhide and winking, mouthing out 'Will will,' then made that silly human gesture that was meant to represent a heart, despite looking nothing like one, 'it'. Before the Warrior was able to take a swipe at the insolent mechling, he grinned at someone just behind Ironhide's shoulder.

Ironhide spun and came face-to-face with Ratchet's Holo-form. The holo was aged appropriately, looking just a few years older than Ironhide. A well-fitting white medic's coat was thrown over a pair of dark blue trousers and a plain black shirt, teamed with a pair of loafers. Ratchet's crisp black hair was also speckled with grey, which only made him look more refined, rather than frail and, like Ironhide, had a spot of neatly trimmed facial hair. He was paler than the other two, but not in a sickly way and had the popular Autobot-blue eyes, which looked out through a pair of thin, rectangle-shaped glasses. Ratchet looked around pointedly, causing the other two to smack their heads and go in search of the missing members of the team.

Barricade and Optimus were sitting together, communicating silently, grinning when the other three showed up. Barricade got to his feet first, rubbing the back of his neck in the now 'official' 'Autobot-Allies-I-Feel-Uncomfortable' gesture. Like Ratchet, he was paler than the others, yet not in a sickly way. He also was young, in his late twenties at most, the same age as Optimus. He ran a hand through his short, spiky black hair, smiling lightly at the other three and causing them to relax, slightly. That was, until Bumblebee started to laugh silently at Cade's dark blue NYPD hoodie. Barricade, instead of being insulted, stuck his tongue out at the younger mech, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets and rocking back on the heels of his converse. Barricade's scars weren't very extensive, but there was more than what the Warrior expected. Too quickly to be noticed, Ironhide flicked his eyes up to Barricade's, half-expecting to see blood-red, surprised when he seen violet iris'. After a moment's pause he reached out, and, eyes wide, Barricade met him halfway. They shook hands firmly, the huge gap between them since the war slowly being bridged.

Optimus watched with content eyes. His Holo-form seemed to suit him to such a degree; Ratchet felt a random surge of pride flick through him. The holo, like Ironhide, was tanned, strong, tall and yet light enough to be agile. Hair that was so black in seemed to have a blue glow just brushed his shoulders, matched with a neatly trimmed goatee. With clear Autobot-blue eyes that shone brightly, a strong jaw line and kind, patient face, the whole deal just seemed to scream  _leader_! The marks on every area of skin shown (such as the face, arms and neck), like the other four, instead of marring his appearance, only seemed to show that this mech had fought for his people and would continue to do so. The Prime was dressed simply, dark blue jeans, a slim white shirt and a red checked shirt, unbuttoned and thrown over the top. Standing there with his arms crossed, he just seemed to radiate understanding, patience and kindness without even trying. It was pretty humbling to the four other mechs.

Bumblebee was just about to mouth over to Ratchet and ask him how long it would be before they could talk, when the door opened, and Ratchet was able to confirm that no, they did not lock to door to the rec room.

* * *

**_With the Allies_ **

They stood in the door way for less than half a second, then burst through, surrounding the five trespassers and training their weapons on them. Tall, dark and dangerous made a move as if to grab his gun when Lennox was suddenly right behind him, gun at the crook of his neck.

"Just," the captain snarled, " _try_ it."

Mikaela started when the trespasser Will was apprehending grinned slightly at the captain's threat, as if he was expecting it. Miles was at her shoulder, having just done swap-over with Law, who had also taken Annabelle down to bed, when they went to say goodnight to the Autobots. Epps moved over to where 'NYPD' stood with his hands in the air, while Miles' went to the young blonde. Mathews was already over at the guy in the lab-coat and Sam, of course, was with Mr. Has-to-be-in-charge. The other Rangers were scattered about the room, ready to move at the first word. Both Sam and Will were interrogating their charges, neither of which spoke a word in reply, much to the two's increasing anger. Moving over slightly, Mikaela out her hand on Ratchet's door.

"Ratch, what's going on? When did they get here?"

Nothing.

Mikaela repeated the question, fear curling in her stomach when the medic remained silent. Turning, she asked the same question to Ironhide, then to Bumblebee, then to Barricade and finally to Optimus.

Each time, she got no reply. By now the others had realised that something bad had happened, and it was most likely to do with the five in the middle.

"Now." Optimus would deny it to the day he last intake, but the fury in Sam's eyes and the venom in his tone was just the tiniest bit frightening. "You are going to tell me  _exactly_  what you did to them. And you are going to  _put. It._ _ **Right**_ _._  Got it?"

Optimus flicked his eyes over to Ratchet, who managed to mouth, '30 seconds'.

"You think this is  _funny?"_  the outrage in Lennox's voice was clear as he looked at the man he had at gunpoint, who was grinning madly. "I don't think you quite get it,  _buddy._  These guys are our friends, and we protect our own, so you are going to  _fix them!"_

Sam glared at the man who was looking down at him, his face completely blank. Just before the teen turned away, something caught the corner of his eye. Reaching up slowly, he brushed away a piece of the silky hair to uncover what looked like a little Bluetooth head-device. The only difference was that there was something engraved on the side. Something that twisted like a circle, something like a-

A glyph.

Sam's eyes snapped to the strangers, bright blue eyes that were half-covered by his hair. He  _knew_  those eyes. He brushed away the hair, a tiny spark of electricity jumping through the two at the touch, his fingertips resting on the side of the man's cheek, on his odd scar...

' _That's no scar_.' Sam's heart thudded loudly in his chest. ' _That's a glyph, a glyph for a-'_

" _Prime_?"

"Yes?"

"...Holy  _shit!"_

The next few hours were spent filling the allies in on holo-technology. Well,  _some_  of the hours. Most of it was taken up by Ironhide turning to Will and asking him if he could court him. Will, of course, replied with tackling the Autobot to the ground and not letting him say anything for a while, due to his lips being so busy. So, most of the night ended up being filled by the teeny party that was thrown in celebration of 'Two idiots not being idiots anymore'.

They laughed, drank and laughed some more. Unfortunately the next morning, laughing would be the  _last_  thing on their minds.

* * *

**_Even Earlier, Keller's office_ **

" _Okay sir, here is the final paperwork on the dissolving of S-7_ "

"Okay, thank you Maureen. Hold on-Maureen? What are...Elites?"

 

"WHAT?! CHILDREN? This has to be a mistake! This-this-It  _can't be!"_

"They were EXPERIMENTING ON CYBERTRONIAN CHILDREN?! For HOW LONG?!  _CHILDREN?!_ I  _ **swear**_  when I get my hands on Banchek...Oh  _Jesus_ , how the  _hell_  am I going to tell Prime?"

"Wait, so you're telling me that two of these, elites, these  _children_ , found out about the Cybertronian children when they were  _ten_ , risked their own  _lives_  to save the children and  _smuggled them out_?"

 

"Wait, sorry, hold up. You're saying that one of them, at not even fourteen years old,  _stayed behind so the other could get away_? And then was  _tortured_  for  _six months_? And after which, he  _still_  didn't give up the information? I-I-I-I need a drink. I need a very large drink.  _Jesus,_  that poor child..."

 

"So where are they now?"

 

"Because, we need to find them and grant them asylum. If these... _elites_  are after them, we have to offer them protection. I'm sure the Autobots will demand it."

 

"What do you mean, we can't find them? There has to be something, somewhere! We  _have_  to get them to safety. They deserve that much..."

 

"Maureen? What are these?

" _Aged photos, sir. That is what they are believed to look like now._ "

"Oh let me-what?-w-what? No. No. No, Maureen, you must be mistaken. You  _have_  to be mistaken!"

" _Mr Secretary, I assure you, those are the teenagers you're looking for. Should I get in touch with PR? ...Mr Secretary?_ "

"Oh Jesus. Oh Jesus Christ."

" _..Sir?...Do you **know** these boys?_"

"...Yes. Yes I do. Miles. Sam. Oh God boys, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

" _Sir?_ "

"...Contact Prime. Tell him-tell him I have urgent news. Jesus  _Christ_."


	21. Twisted Truths

"So...this is what you do in your spare time?"

Sam tilted his head back and grinned down at Prime. The boy was suspended, by various ropes around his waist, from the ceiling in the sparklings room, paintbrush in hand and dressed old, paint plastered clothes. Shimmering silver speckled his face, hands, arms and clothes as he scattered stars across the ceiling, the constellation of Orion still running from the scorpion just being completed as the Prime spoke. The Cybertronians' were all in the sparklings' room with the allies, checking out the changes that had taken place within. It seemed the allies had been very busy during their spare time. The walls separating the rooms had all been torn down, bar one which cut halfway across the room to allow a closed off area for sleeping. The wooden floor had been replaced by a soft green carpet and one of the walls had been painted with blackboard paint and was already decorated by the sparklings' works of art. The opposite wall was painted a soft yellow and had a large rainbow stretching across it and the silhouette of a city that looked strikingly similar to Iacon below it. The wall the door was cut out of was also yellow with several large geometric shapes printed on it. Various spotlights were attached to the various coloured ceiling, letting light fill the playroom. The ceiling itself started off as light blue at the door, slowly growing darker as it moved down the room until, directly over the area where the sparklings' were to sleep, it was dark blue and dotted with silver stars. The Cybertronians were helping the allies put a few finishing touches to the room, slowly getting used to their holo-forms. Eventually, they would claim the other flats on the corridor and design them to their own tastes, but that would be later and right now the only thing everyone was focusing on was getting the sparklings comfortable.

Ratchet lifted his head from where he was colouring with Digi, a question for Optimus on his lips, only to break into a grin at the sight that met his eyes. Optimus was sitting on the ground, playing a game of ball with Quickfire, smiling indulgently at the femme's excited shrieks. The tiny sparklings had quickly grown until they were just about waist height and were expected to be the height of an average human within a decade.

Sam dabbed the last dot of silver in place and quickly untangled himself, landing lightly and silently. Practically the moment his feet touched the ground, he was glomped by Quickfire, who twittered excitedly and all but demanded Sam join in the game. The boy disposed of his brushes and glanced over at Optimus, only to roll his eyes in defeat at the Prime's twinkling eyes and grin. A few minutes later, Ironhide looked up from playing 'peek-a-boo' with Annabelle at the sound of something he had not heard in what felt like eons. Flicking his eyes around the room, the look of surprise and happiness he knew was on his face was mirrored on the rest of the Autobots. Optimus was laughing.  _Properly laughing_. The type that was low in his chest and crinkled the corner of his eyes, something the Autobots had very, very rarely heard since the start of the war. Not only that, but he was relaxed, his weight balanced on his arms that were pushed out behind him and legs stretched out comfortably, for once not tense or wary. Scanning the room, Ironhide's eyes fell on the thing that was making his Prime laugh, a rumble of laughter growing in his own chest. Quickfire had somehow obtained Sam's paintbrush and was giving the overpowered boy a make-over. The boy's closed eye-lids were completely silver, random dots, hearts and stars decorated his face and he had silver lips to match. Quickfire was jabbering away to Optimus, asking his opinion and, in a rare moment of mischievousness, Optimus gave the sparkling ideas to try out on the teen. After one particular embarrassing idea, Sam's eyes shot open, somehow looking bluer than usual against the silver.

"Hey, Quickfire? It's not fair how I get all the fun; I think Optimus wants a make-over too!"

Optimus' mouth dropped open at the teen's innocent smile, quickly pulling up a smile when Quickfire suddenly turned her artistic skills to him, his eyes not leaving the teen's now smirking face. Before Ironhide could extract his cell phone and snap a picture without being seen, a shrill beep came from the device on his ear. The Autobot tilted his head to the side as he received an urgent message from Keller; forehead creasing at the plea to make his was to The Hub ASAP. Ironhide blinked when the message ended, judging by the furrowed brows and suddenly serious expressions, the other Cybertronians had also received the message. The Warrior was startled out of his musings when a small hand tapped his cheek. Annabelle gazed into his eyes, her own somehow serious; as if she knew something was wrong. Shaking his head, Ironhide smiled at the child and placed a light kiss to her forehead. He turned to hand her to Will, who had been reading a story to Freeze-flame, only to draw short when Will was checking a message on his phone. Confused and slightly concerned beautiful brown eyes flicked up to meet clear blue.

"Hey guys? I just got a message from Keller-"

"Yes." Optimus rose to his feet, only pausing to press his forehead against Quickfire's helm to sooth the confused femme, "We received the same message."

"How did-"

"Our Comm. devices work slightly similarly to your cellular phones," Ratchet explained to Devlin, "Prime gave Keller our access codes in the case of an emergency."

The Allies glanced at one-another, until Miles stepped forward with Sonic clinging to his hand tightly. "Hey kiddos, how about story time?"

The sparklings all gave cries of agreement, racing towards the far corner that had shelves filled by rows of books, the worried expressions of the adults forgotten in their excitement. The three teens told the  _best_ stories, putting on voices and pulling silly faces. Sam made up to most exciting ones, ones about a king whose kingdom was fighting with each other and how the king and his royal court were saving the world!

The holo's and Rangers took full advantage of the sparklings' distraction and quickly slipped out the door. Just before the door shut, Optimus glanced back over his shoulder at Sam. The teen whispered something in Quickfire's audio that caused the femme to race off with a squeal, then straightened up to meet Optimus' gaze. After a few seconds, the human's lips quirked up in a half-smile and he nodded at the Prime, who wordlessly returned the gesture and slipped out the door.

* * *

"Morning."

The Rangers and Cybertronians replied to Keller's greeting, filing into the conference room. After they glanced around, they filled the empty chairs that surrounded the long conference table, eyeing the handful of men in suits and shades. When everyone was seated, Keller gestured to one of the men who closed the door and dim off the lights, leaving the room in semi-darkness. The projector quickly kicked into life and threw a picture onto the wall behind Keller. Bumblebee was suddenly a statue, Ratchet and Ironhide growled low in their throats and Optimus' eyes narrowed, his fists tensed and jaw tightened.

"This is Seymour Simmons." Keller began, indicating to the greying man.

"Yeah, we've met." Lennox bit the words out, worried eyes on the unmoving form of Bumblebee. Anger and hate spiked out from the Rangers, the memory of the bot they were beginning to see as a younger brother's cries echoing in their ears. Seeing Barricade's confused eyes, Fig leaned forward and whispered Simmons's part in the creation of Chatter and the imprisonment and torture of Bumblebee. The mech jerked back, a snarl escaping from his lips, much to the agreement of Ironhide. Optimus cleared his throat pointedly.

"What exactly, Mr Secretary, is this about?"

"Mr Simmons here managed to cut a deal. He gave some never-before seen information in exchange from escaping jail time due to the prevention of the course of justice. The information he gave has never before been recorded, never before been explain or brought to light to those outside the need-to-know. The information refers to Sector Seven or rather, a level within Sector Seven."

"Level?" Law broke in, leaning forward with his hands clasped on top of the table, grey eyes sharp.

"Yes. From what I've been able to gather, there are four levels within Sector Seven. Simmons has given us information on the top level, the 'Elites'."

"Elites? Never heard of them."

"You wouldn't have." Keller answered with a wry grin. "The Elites' are the best of the best. The fastest, smartest and strongest of the generation are taken and trained. These guys are invisible, unstoppable, strike teams and assassins. And they specialise in the 'protection of the people of Earth from the-'" Keller suddenly broke off, glancing around the room, hesitantly finishing, "'NBE Threat'."

The tension in the room could have been sliced by a knife. The so called 'NBE's' were suddenly expressionless while fury crackled out from the Rangers.

"Most of the Elites' are scientists. They were fascinated by the 'Cube' or 'Allspark'. And, I'm afraid, they created more children than the ones we have with us today."

Optimus' head snapped up, followed by the rest of the room.

"What do you mean? There are more sparklings? Where?"

Keller shut his eyes, unable to stand the hopeful look on the Prime's face.

"No, you misunderstand. Sector Seven-They...Prime, I'm sorry. They experimented on the children. None, bar the ones that are with us on base, survived."

Keller opened his eyes slowly; afraid of what he would see. The Rangers looked both sick and furious, the mere thought of someone hurting the sparklings sending a white-hot rage through them. Barricade made an odd choking noise, the only noise in the deafening silence. Ironhide and Ratchet were silent in their shock, not even intaking, the thought of the sparklings they thought as their own being hurt,  _tortured_  making them so deathly furious that they couldn't even move. Bumblebee thought he was going to purge his tanks; the thought of the sparklings going through what he had over and over again was making the world spin.

The silence slowly shifted, the eyes of the room falling on one being. Optimus kept his head down as he slowly rose out of his chair, his palms flat across the desk as if to ground himself, a terrifying growl building in his chest. Slowly, he brought his head up and Keller flinched back at the pure, undiluted  _fury_  in his eyes.

"Your government," The words were spat out, quickly morphing into a snarl, "Gave the order to torture and murder our sparklings, the children of a slowly dying race?"

The room exploded, the occupants' chairs hitting the ground with crashes as they leapt to their feet, all but screaming at the Secretary. The men in black moved as if to shield him, worried for his safety, as the Cybertronians especially looked ready to kill, reverence for life be damned. The screaming continued for a handful of minutes, until...

"Silence"

Optimus did not raise his voice, the word was barely audible, but at once silence fell, the furious cries ceased as if a switch had been flipped. The chairs were lifted up and sat on once more, despite the fact their occupants were trembling with fury. The fury in the Prime's eyes did not dim as he spoke to Keller, his voice flat, devoid of anything.

"Did you know?"

"NO! I  _swear_  Prime! I had no idea! Only a select few were in the know and I was not one of them."

Optimus' eyes flicked over the man's face, searching for any hint of a lie. When he found none, a minute amount of tension lifted from his shoulders as he slowly sank into his seat, pushing down the grief at the knowledge that he had been too late to save such young sparks.

' _The time will come when they will be mourned,'_  Optimus promised himself,  _'But until then, we must focus on those who can still be saved'_.

"What other information do you have on these... _Elites_." It took everything within the man not to shudder at the disgust that draped the word.

"Elites are taken young-"

"How young?" Keller looked up to meet Lennox's furious eyes.

"Fourteen."

The allies did a double take, blinking at Keller.

"Wait- _what?!"_

"When you say fourteen-"

"I mean fourteen years old."

"Children." Eyes snapped to Ironhide's completely blank face, though the hand that once clenched on the arm of his seat had slipped under the table and grasped Lennox's, the human squeezing back in a sign of non-verbal comfort. "You were training children. To fight in wars. To kill.  _Children"_

John Keller nodded sadly, the thought of so many young lives being ruined twisting his heart.

"They are trained for five years, finishing their training at nineteen. Then, they fight."

"There's more." Ratchet kept his eyes on the table, his voice just a whisper. "You have more to tell us."

John sighed deeply. Now was the hard part.

"Not all Elites' fought against your kind. There were two boys. They went by the names Lightning and Blaze. Lighting was taken in at seven and completed his training within the year, and Blaze was taken when he was eight, his training finished within two years."

"Wait, stop right there.  _Seven and eight?_!"

John didn't need to look up to see the horror on the faces looking back at him. "Yes"

The Rangers were speechless, Lennox in particular, the thought of little Annie being taken in just over six years to be trained into an assassin making him shudder. Though the Cybertronians stayed quiet, it wasn't hard to see that they too were disgusted at when the humans had done, and Keller could find any way to argue with them.

"When Lightning and Blaze were ten years old, they discovered the truth about the sparklings, when Quickfire was born."

Everyone pretended not to see Optimus snap up straight.

"The two boys managed to convince the man explaining the 'NBTs'' that she was offlined and managed to smuggle her out. They continued to do this for a further six sparklings for a further four years, up until they were just coming fourteen. Then, they smuggled them out of Sector Seven Headquarters to go and stay with Melissa Lancaster."

"You mean to say, that two children found out the truth about our sparklings and risked their own lives to save them?"

Keller could only nod in reply to the shell-shocked Barricade. Ironhide was openly gaping at Keller and Ratchet looked on in disbelief. It wasn't until Prime spoke, did realization come crashing down.

"What happened to them?"

Keller scrubbed a hand over his face.

"Sector Seven found out. Lightning managed to provide a distraction long enough to allow Blaze to escape, but he himself couldn't make it out. The other Elites' tired to...extract the information due to the whereabouts of both Blaze and the Sparklings, but he refused to give it up."

"They tortured him." Bumblebee spoke for the first time, his eyes dark and voice just slightly raspy. He held the Secretary's gaze until the older man nodded.

"Extensively."

"Jesus Christ." Epps' head slowly hit the table. Lennox squeezed Ironhide's hand, shutting his own eyes.

"Poor kid must have been terrified."

"Disgusting"

"Just a child"

"Then what happened?"

"Six months later, he broke out. Escaped Sector-Seven Headquarters with another sparkling and gave it back to its 'parent' who it was tearing up the base. Escaped on a bike and blew up most of Headquarters, though most agreed he died in the explosion and-Barricade, are you alright?"

Turning around slowly, the eyes of the room fell on the suddenly whiter-than-white holo.

"Did he wear a mask?"

"Pardon?"

"Did he wear a mask?!"

Keller blinked at the almost hysterical tone the ex-enforcer used, his violet eyes burning brightly.

"Yes...black and covered in-"

"-bolts of Lightning."

Barricade's head hit the table with a soft thump as the mech laughed, almost hysterically. Optimus, bring the closest one to the mech, placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Barricade?"

"You know they way I explained to you about those human knocking me out? T-taking Frenzy? One of them returning him?"

"Yes..."

"Optimus, he wore a mask with lightning bolts."

Optimus' eyes widened.

"He saved not only the sparklings, but also your son?"

Barricade could only nod, another hysterical bubble rising in his throat. Optimus' eyes suddenly became slits. The child had saved the future of their race, had saved the sparkling Optimus was growing attached to, had saved his  _nephew_. Now, it was personal.

"He survived, didn't he?"

"Yes. He and Blaze are both alive."

"Where are they? What do they look like? Are they safe?"

Keller ignored both the first and last question Ratchet asked, focusing on the second.

"This is what they looked like, aged six."

Keller brought up a photograph of three children, a little girl, whose face was blurred out, a little blonde and a little redhead. The two boys were grinning at the camera, youthful and innocent. But something else drew Optimus' attention. The two in the picture reminded him of something, of someone; he just couldn't put his finger on it...

"Hold up. That doesn't make sense. Sam and Miles found the sparklings and sent them to live with Miles' aunt. If your information is correct, then why would they..."

Bumblebee trailed off, his eyes widening rapidly. Mathew cocked his head to the side, exhaling loudly. "They lied to us."

Optimus shook his head slowly, trying to ignore the flash of hurt that stung through his spark. The tentative trust that the group had with the two teens started to shave and shiver. Ironhide's lips pressed together tightly as fire started to grow in the mech's eyes.

"They lied to us. Why would they lie about such a thing? And why would the sparklings go along with it? Unless..."

Lennox picked up on Ironhide's train of thought, fury starting to smoulder in his own eyes. "You think they  _threatened_ them?"

It started off as whispers, but they quickly span out of control, rising up like a wildfire.

"How  _dare_  they!"

"They threatened our  _children!_ "

"For all we know, they could be working with S-7 as we speak!"  
"They could be passing along information!"

" _Traitors!"_

"They can't stay with us!"

"What should we do? Let them know we know?"

"We left them with the sparklings!"

Keller twisted his hands, his face pale. The Cybertronians and Rangers were getting to their feet, intending to race back to the guiltless teens. If they had been told carefully, explained fully, Keller knew the outcome would have been very different. But these were soldiers; they had to trust their instincts, and they were telling them that children were in danger. Glancing over at Prime, John realised with a jolt that while he hadn't joined in with the shouting, he hadn't done anything to stop the others. His eyes were shut, his forehead creased and his lips were trembling as he mouthed things only himself could understand.

Gesturing sharply, three men in black moved from Keller's side to block the door. Fig blinked at them, drawing up short.

"Hey man, could ya move?"

The man looked back emotionlessly, unmoving. Before the soldier could forcibly move him out of the way, Keller drew the impatient men and mechs' attention.

"Wait! You don't have all the information you need!"

The men at the door ignored his remark, preparing to forcibly move the suits out of the way when-

"Wait."

Eyes flew back to Optimus, whose gaze was suddenly razor sharp on Keller.

"If Sam and Miles were a threat, you would have told us immediately. But you withheld that information, so you believe them to be trustworthy."

Keller nodded hesitantly. "Those two can be trusted, that much I am sure of."

"But," Bumblebee shook his head slowly, trying to grasp what Prime was speaking of. "They work for Sector Seven," The name was said with a light shudder, "Don't they?"

"Yes."

"But then, how can we trust them? You said it yourself, they fight against the 'NBE threat'. Well, all but those two bo-"

The scout cut off, something whispering in the back of his mind. The idea grew louder until it was practically screaming in his ears. He looked to Keller, as if waiting for him to laugh the scout off. Instead, he got a pair of sad eyes looking back at him. Understanding dawned in Ratchet's eyes as he let his forehead drop into his hands, shaking his head. Slowly, what was being suggested sank in.

"No." Will shook his head, something tightening around his neck and clawing up his throat, "It couldn't-"

With a press of a button, the picture on the wall changed. Looking back at them was two seventeen year old boys, almost identical to the two the people in the room had fought with barely two months ago.

"No. It can't be. Not them, not-"

Epps rambling was cut off when Keller pushed another button. He hated what he was going to do, but he had to be cruel to get them to understand.

" _Tell me where they are!"_

" _I will tell you nothing."_

_The boy chained to the chair screamed as something white-hot was pushed against the sensitive sole of his foot. The stomach-churning smell of burnt flesh filled the boy's sense, causing him to gag on nothing._

" _Have you changed your mind yet?"_

" _Uncle..p-please..."_

" _Tell me where Blaze is. Tell me where the NBT's are, and you can walk away."_

_The boy looked up, unmasked,_ **and if there was any doubt still lingering, it was gone when they recognized the scar-the scar that was a white jagged line now, but then was fresh and still bleeding-that tore across his face.** _The boy's eyes were conflicted; he swallowed and closed his eyes and whispered..._

" _I will tell you nothing."_

" _Very well. Fault line, continue."_

The video feed cut out, and not a moment too soon. No-one spoke, no-one dared to breathe loudly. Each person was still reeling at what had just been revealed. After a few minutes, the one thing that was whispering in the back of O'Neill's mind broke free.

"Why didn't they tell us?"

Keller could only shrug in reply, equally mystified. "I have no idea. I think it had something to do with Mr Going-to-be-kicked-out-of-office."

After a few more minutes of horrified silence, Optimus practically lurched to his feet and sprinted across the room, weaving through the shell shocked Cybertronians and Rangers and skidded out the door. Only after a few seconds did the rest of the room's brain kick into gear and they followed, almost stampeding out of the room, sprinting to catch up with Optimus' long strides. Ignoring the surprised faces of the other soldiers, they ducked into the bright sunlight and darted across the distance between the Hub and the Autobot hanger, not pausing as they continued to dash through the open doors. The hanger was crossed in seconds and the door of the Rec room was thrown open, only to find Sam, who had been in the process of opening it, standing at the other side.

Sam blinked at Optimus, raising an eyebrow at his pale face, shocked eyes and creased forehead. Behind the teen, the sparklings peered out from behind his legs, Miles lagging in the back with Mikaela.

"Prime? You alright?"

Optimus opened his mouth...and closed it again. Now that he was here, face-to-face with Sam, he could neither think of anything to say nor erase the image of the younger version of the boy screaming in agony that seemed burned onto the back of his eyelids. What was he supposed to say?  _'Oh, hey Sam, just found out about you and Miles being Elites! Oh yeah, thanks for saving our sparklings and smuggling them out of S7 HQ, at risk to your own lives, despite the fact that you yourselves were only children at the time! Oh, and I suppose, thanks for allowing yourself to be tortured for six months while protecting the lives of our sparklings,_ _ **again**_ _. One more thing, thanks for risking your own safety to save my nephew!'_

Sam looked over Optimus' shoulder at the others, starting slightly when he saw their horrified, remorseful faces. He glanced back at Miles and Mikaela, seeing his own confusion mirrored on their faces.

"Uh, Optimus? You okay? What's wrong?"

Before Optimus had a chance to speak, an alarm screamed in the hanger just behind him. Reacting on instinct, the Cybertronians and the allies launched themselves into the hanger, Mikaela jumping and pulling the sparklings back while Miles slammed the door shut behind him. The holo-forms wavered and disappeared into nothing as their bi-pedal forms stood up, racing over to the computers lining the walls. Optimus was barking out orders and both his men and the allies hurried to carry them out.

"Check the monitor!"

"All clear, Prime!"

"Bumblebee, your station?!"

"It's not me either, Prime!"

"Ironhide?"

"Not me."

"Ratchet?"

"All I'm getting is static!"

"Lennox, check those wires! Miles, twist that 14 degrees to the right!"

"Wires are fine, Prime"

"What now?"

"Sam-"

"On it."

The boy skidded underneath the monitor itself, fingers prying off the plastic cover. He delved into the mass of wire pushing useless ones out of the way. Finally, his eyes locked in on the target and he pulled sharply.

At once, the deafening beeping cut off and causing most-mainly the Cybertronians-to sigh in relief. Rubbing at his forehead, Optimus gave a few more orders to the boy under the monitor, who quickly followed through. The static from Ratchet's station started to clear slowly, the buzzing slowly morphing into undistinguishable voices. Optimus moved towards the microphone flicking on the Cybertronian-to-english translator for the benefit of the humans.

"My designation is Optimus Prime. State your designation, rank, intent, how many members of your squad and situation"

The room waited with baited breath as the buzzing grew louder then dropped off again, the line becoming almost crystal clear.

"Designation: Prowl. Rank: Second in Command. Intent: To rendezvous with First Command. Total number in Squad: Five. Situation: Free-falling through Sol 3's Atmosphere. Assistance Required ASAP"


	22. Fight or Flight?

Optimus glanced down at the two teens, his expression sharp and unflinching.

"Are you with us?"

The teens didn't even hesitate as they gave two cut nods. Neither spoke, but the look in their eyes was enough to show the Prime that they most certainly were. Sam suddenly split off from Miles' side, ignoring the explosion of activity that was going on around him, darting across the room and skidding under one of the large monitors. Ironhide glanced away from where he was barking out orders to the Rangers to raise an optic-ridge.

"What is he...?"

"Miles!"

The black mech jerked slightly as a handgun suddenly flew towards the blonde, who caught it mid-air. A second joined the first, then a strange watch-type-thing, then a...Huh? Ironhide scanned the unfamiliar weapon, blinking at the search result.

' _That seems very...weak?'_

Pushing the thought to the back of his processor, the Warrior transformed, flinging open his doors so Lennox and Epps could pile in, tearing out into the bright sunshine. The rest of the Rangers flung themselves into the jeeps provided by Keller and, on Prime's command, a  _few_  soldiers joined them. Barricade and Mikaela were ordered to stay with a sharp command that the Ex-Enforcer was to take control, and the whole squad was roaring towards the impact-site, a few klicks outside the outskirts of Tranquillity, just beside a housing development. The group moved as one, weaving in and out of the various lanes of traffic, mainly in tense silence, bar Sam giving Prime directions to get to the impact-site faster. The yellow Camaro was silent, neither Bumblebee nor Miles speaking until...

"Sam."

Sam ignored Miles comment for the moment, trying to run through the streets of Tranquillity in his mind for Prime.

"Sam!"

"Hold on, Miles! Okay, we need to take a left...Then stay on this street for-"

"LIGHTNING!"

Lightning's head snapped around quickly. Blaze looked up from the PADD, a shimmer of fear on his face.

"We have Elites."

Lightning's eyes closed as he cursed the aforementioned to The Pit and back, his lips tightening into a thin white line. Eyes still shut, the Alpha asked through clenched teeth,

"Where?"

"'Pure View' Housing, about a click from the impact-site"

"Wait, 'Pure View' As in-?"

"Yeah."

"Shit. How many?"

Nibbling at his bottom lips, the Beta replied. "I'm not sure."

"Be sure, Blaze!"

"I don't know, alright? The life signs are popping all over the place, we're looking at what, fourteen, fifteen maybe? I don't know!"

"Vaffanculo,questo è eccessivo!"  _Fuck, that's overkill_

Unknown to the two teens, the Commlink that was shared with Prime was connected up via radio to every other jeep. And so, for a split second, the Rangers closed their eyes and Autobots vented sadly as the tiny hope that the whole 'Lightning-and-Blaze are Sam-and-Miles' thing had been a huge misunderstanding fluttered out.

Sam was muttering under his breath, running a hand through his hair, conversing indecipherably with Miles until the two came to an uneasy compromise.

"Prime?"

Via megavorns of practice, Optimus was able to keep his voice completely even despite what had just been confirmed.

"Yes?"

"Do you trust me?"

Optimus nearly pulled up short.  _What?!_

"Sam? What do-"

" _Optimus!_  Do. You. Trust. Me?"

' _Can you give us a boost?' 'I want to introduce you to my friend, Optimus Prime' '_ _I'm never giving you this All Spark!_ _' '_ _No sacrifice, no victory_ _' '_ _Ironhide looked pretty hurt, and Bee was real bad too, not to mention yourself' 'My friends call me Sam... I think you guys have earned that right' '_ _get to the sparklings that still need you and get some justice for the new sparks' '_ _What do you think? We took the sparklings and looked after them' 'The Crystal City sounds beautiful. I'm so sorry for all you and your people have suffered. I hope you can find some sort of peace here' 'You are going to tell me exactly what you did to them. And you are going to put. It. Right' 'Hey, Quickfire? It's not fair how I get all the fun; I think Optimus wants a make-over too!' 'I will tell you nothing' 'Prime? You alright?' 'Optimus? You okay? What's wrong?'_

"Indisputably"

"Alright." The teen exhaled loudly, eyes snapping open. "Stay on this street, but take the first left. Go down that street, right until the end, where you'll come to a crossroads. Take a sharp right and stay on that street. It'll knock about ten minutes off your ETA. Keep going straight and you'll come to 'Orchard Housing'. That's the impact-site, right in the damn middle of the square. Bee-"

Bumblebee's dashboard lit up to show he was listening.

"Take the next right and stay on that street. When I give the order, fishtail and let us out."

"What do you mean, 'let you'-"

"We," Miles interrupted, swallowing thickly. He glanced over at Sam for confirmation, who nodded with a shaky exhale. "We can give you an extra ten minutes. No more. You make the best of that time that you-"

" _ **What?!**_ "

"You can't be serious!"

"Sam, Miles, no! Don't-!"

"-too dangerous! You can't-!"

"No. You are to stay with Bumblebee until-"

Leaning forward, Sam flicked off the Commlink. Even though Bumblebee could switch it on wirelessly, he remained silent.

"Trust me, Bee."

"What will happen if the Elites' get there before us?" The scout almost whispered, voice tight. Sam's hands tightened into fists, hating himself for the situation he was putting one of his best friends', possibly his brother, into.

"Honestly? They will offline them."

Bumblebee shuddered in his shocks, scrap lodged in his throat. "Why? Wouldn't they want to... _study_ -"

"No." It was Miles who spoke now, lips barely moving. "To take an NBE alive is to be seen as a weakness. No offence, but you guys are easy to subdue, couple of gallons of dry ice and you're stuck. But killing you? No, that's hard. No Elite wants to look weak in front of another."

Bumblebee turned right.

He sped down the street, weaving through the cars parked on the sidewalk, heading towards the very end of the street, into the housing development. Suddenly, his front pocket fell open, displaying two button-type things with a glyph inscribed on it.

"Put them on. It's a primitive Commlink device. We can hear you, but you can't hear us. Put it on, so we can keep in basic contact."

Despite their natural reaction to stay away from alien technology, the two Elites put it on without argument.

Eventually, Bumblebee came to a dead end, a space between two houses and bricked up about two stories high. He fishtailed, throwing open his doors and letting the boys flash out. Not-stopping, he gunned it, leave skid marks across the ground as he flew back up the street. Using his wing mirrors, he glanced backwards and if he was in bi-pedal mode, his optic ridges would have rose higher than he thought possible. Sam pressed his back against the wall of one of the houses and shot towards the opposite, jumping halfway. His feet made contact against the wall and he launched himself off it, his jump propelling him into the other wall and he used the momentum to push off  _that_ wall and swing himself upwards like you would with a pole vault. He spun mid air and landed lightly on top of the wall, completely balanced and poised. Miles copied his movements then, like a pair of shadows, they dropped backwards with no sign they had ever been there.

Neither noticed the pair of worried brown eyes watching their movements from the window they had flown past, nor did they see the man inside shake his head and move down to the kitchen, to grab his emergency First Aid kit.

* * *

The two boys hit the ground running, streaking across the undeveloped fields. Sam became Lightning, Miles became Blaze at the sight of the fourteen Elites racing towards the impact-site. As they were all running in the same direction, the two boys were invisible to the Elites. The two rebels were gaining, growing closer and closer until...

"Lightning? Are they...stopping?"

Lighting didn't reply, eyes sharp as he narrowed in on what the Elite's were pulling up to, cursing under his breath.

"A pod. Dammit! It must have broken off-course...Blaze!"

"On it."

Blaze pulled something from behind his back, not flattering his pace, inhaling...exhaling.

_Twang!_

Just over a quarter of a click from the pod, one of the Elites' hit the ground with a cry of pain as Blaze's arrow stuck the back of his leg. The other Elites spun sharply, their cool exterior splintering for a second at the sight of two rebels closing the distance between them. Blaze grabbed another arrow from the quiver and released it sharply, dropping another. Lightning's hand went to his waist, seizing two throwing knives and letting them fly, hitting two Elite on their ankles' and dropping them to the ground with a cry. Flicking his wrist, the securely woven magnet within his woven wristband activated and the Cybertronian-reinforced knives flew back to his hands. The other Elites, sensing the greater threat, left the race towards the pod and shot towards the two rebels, just as said rebels planned. The two forces clashed with snarls, the rebels forced back-to-back with the other ten Elites surrounding them.

"Lightning."

"Aqua. Pleasure to see you again."

"You should be dead."

The teen pulled an obviously fake 'hurt' face. "That's a bit harsh, ain't it?"

The older teen snarled at the younger, the sunlight glancing off her long hair and giving the impression it was made from living flame. Her attention snapped to the blonde, and her expression softened just a bit.

"Blaze. It's okay. We understand. Lightning twisted you, but you can be saved. Come home with us, Blaze."

The blonde turned his head slightly, raising an eyebrow. "You're joking, right?"

Aqua sighed sadly, shaking her head at the blonde. "In time, you will see, Blaze. And when you do, we will welcome you home."

Then, her eyes hardened and her face was wiped.

"Attack."

Eight of the Elites sprang forward, five on Lightning and three on Blaze, and were met with equal intensity. Aqua stepped back and watched with bored eyes, arms folded, lip curling slightly at the sight of the two rebels holding their own.

' _Then again,'_ she reluctantly admired, ' _They_ were _the best of their year'._

Sensing the possible danger of the two actually  _overpowering_  the others, Aqua signed to Shock Light and jerked her head towards the pod. Taking the hint, the Elite sprinted towards the NBE, his hand going to his waist. He pulled out an innocent looking metal ball and chucked it, landing directly on the curled up NBE. The moment the ball hit it, it exploded outwards and a thin yet unbelievably strong net shot out, covering the NBE.

Blaze was grinning. His gun lay abandoned in its holster, modern weapons used only as a last resort by Elites. While his skills lay more in things such as archery and brute strength, he was still pretty handy with a knife, a skill that Lightning had only helped hone in the last few years. Lightning himself looked almost bored as he went against the other Elites, dancing between them, graceful and quick and deadly. Neither rebel was aiming to kill, but to injure  _just_ enough that the Elite was useless. Both teens were down to fighting an Elite each, when a familiar metallic clicking reached their ears. Snapping their eyes to the pod, horror rose in the rebels' stomach as it started to open.

"It's too early! We should have another three minutes!"

Lighting's eyes narrowed at Blaze's words, his hand pulling something from his pocket. The thing that lay in his hand looked remarkably like a purple glow stick. Aqua's eyes widened in horror, her mouth dropping open as Lightning smirked and cracked it. Instead of glowing, the thing broke in two and thick, purple smoke poured out of it, swallowing the two rebels. The Elites were left to grope blindly, curing Lighting's name.

Lightning and Blaze slipped out of the smoke and sprinted towards the NBE, fury chocking their throats as Shock Light was already there, arm raised upwards, Katana in hand, swinging down...

The Elite gave a scream as an arrow pierced his shoulder, a knife embedded in his knee and another on his shin. He hit the ground with a cry, yelping again when the knives flew back to their wielder. Lightning breathed a sigh of relief, only for it to freeze mid-way as the now awake NBE spoke.

" _GENERATOR!"_

Blaze's head snapped to Lightning's at his strangled cry of fury. The Elite skidded to the ground beside the NBE, barking at Blaze to remove Shock Light. The Beta followed the command, dragging the moaning Elite a couple of feet away, racing back to the screaming NBE and Sam's soothing clicking.

"Lightning?"

Sam looked back at Blaze, his eyes burning. "It's a youngling. He nearly murdered a youngling."

Miles could feel the horror on his face as Sam turned back to the screaming youngling, who was thrashing under the net, its optics burning with fear.

" _Generator! Generator! Please! I can't- Generator!"_

" _Shush little one. It's okay. It's okay, hush. You're safe."_

The youngling fell silent at the Speech Of Sparkling falling from the organic's lips. Slowly, not to frighten the youngling, Sam slipped a hand through the net and slowly stroked its helm, waiting until the youngling's panicked intaking slowed and evened out.

" _It's okay little one. I'm not going to hurt you."_

" _Where am I?"_

" _Earth. Or Sol 3, whichever you prefer."_

Miles glanced behind him, lips tightening as the thick smoke begun to clear.

"Sam."

The Alpha nodded and lifted the net slightly, bringing his knife up. The moment the youngling saw it, it started to scream in fear, thrashing and kicking.

"Miles!"

Hating himself as the sounds of fear coming from the youngling increased, Miles forced it to stay still as Sam made short work of the net, hyper-aware of time trickling away.

"  _Generator! Generator! Please!"_

"For fu-"

"Miles!" The blonde looked over at Sam, chastised. "Don't swear in front of the kid!"

"He can't even understand-"

"Shush!"

" _Kid! Kid, listen to me! I'm not going to hurt you, alright! I'm going to take you to Optimus Prime. Prime, you know him?"_

At the name 'Optimus', the youngling froze, looking at the tense teen with bright optics.

" _You know Uncle Orion?"_

"For  _God's_  sake! How big is this guy's family?!"

" _Yes, I know your uncle. He's here, on earth, as is the rest of his team."_

" _Is carrier there?"_

" _Who's your carrier, little one?"_

" _He's a medic. Ratchet."_

"You've got to be kidding me."

Miles looked up at Sam's groan, blinking at the disbelief on his face. "What?"

"It's Ratchet's kid."

" _ **What?!"**_

Grabbing a handful of the net, Sam slashed upwards, tearing it open. The youngling shot upwards, clinging to the blonde. Miles rubbing the kid's back soothingly, though his eyes were urgent.

" _Kid?"_

Ratchet's youngling turned, looking into Sam's soft but serious eyes. " _Do you see that line of trees?"_

The youngling turned to follow Sam's hand, optics falling on the thin line of trees that cut through the undeveloped land barely half a klick dead ahead, and hesitantly nodded.

" _Okay kid, when I tell you to, you need to run there, okay? Your caretakers are on the other side of those trees. You run there, got it? Don't stop, don't look back, don't slow down, okay?"_

Swallowing, the youngling nodded again. Sam lurched forward, his lips to Miles' ear.

"Go with him."

"No." The blonde shook his head, eyes set. "I'm not leaving you. Not again."

"I won't thank you if that youngling doesn't make it out of here. Go. Take him to Ratchet. I'll be fine."

"Sam-"

"Sam! Miles!"

The two snapped their heads around, eyes zeroed in on the figure that was running towards them, coming from the housing development, white first Aid Kit in hand. Both snarled under their breaths.

"See? This is why I didn't want this to happen here."

The figure came to a stop, hands on knees and panting.

"James, just go home, alright? This isn't you fight!"

"You gotta...move your...robot...thing. Those...cloaked dudes...are...starting up...again."

Sam snarled, rising fluidly to his feet and glancing over his shoulder. The five Elites that remained standing were indeed clawing their way out of the smoke, and Sam knew it would only be seconds before they started towards them. He hauled Miles and the youngling to their feet, eyes sharp.

"Don't argue with me! Get the youngling to safety!"

"Sam-!"

"It's a  _child!_ "

Blaze's hand tightened into a fist, jaw tight, wanting to argue against his Alpha, but knowing that he would not win this fight. He gave a cut nod, showing that while he detested this idea, he would follow orders.

" _Okay Kid, on the count of three. One...Two..._ _ **Three!**_ _"_

Blaze and the youngling shot off, sprinting towards the line of trees, Blaze's hand tight on the youngling's arm, half dragging it forward.

Lightning looked over at the civilian on the ground, brow furrowed.

"James. You should-"

"Sam? Uh, you have company."

* * *

The Elites clawed their way out of the thick smoke, eyes burning as they cursed Lightning. Aqua burst outwards, coughing, trying to expel the purple vapor from her lungs. It seemed that Lightning and Blaze hadn't been twiddling their thumbs during the time they were MIA. When her vision finally cleared, a strangled snarl twisted in her throat as she realised that the NBE was almost out of her sight. She lunged to her feet, throwing hair from her eyes. Cobra, one of the few Elites still standing stood just behind her shoulder, tense and humiliated. "Ma'm? What do we do?"

As a reply, she started to stalk towards Lightning, throwing her orders over her shoulder.

"Retreat. I will take care of this myself."

* * *

James lurched out of the way as the girl threw herself at Sam with a scream, slashing his face and leaving long nail marks. There was no sense to her attack, no routine. It was powered by fear, anger, hate and pain, which was backed-up by the strangled sobs that were being torn from her lips. Sam wasn't even fighting back, just defending himself, letting her waste all here energy until the girl collapsed in his arms, sobbing into his chest. Sam fell to the ground with her, his face buried in her hair and shoulders shuddering. What was happening hit James like a wrecking ball.

Sam was sobbing. He had  _never_  seen his friend so much a shed a tear, and now he was flat out sobbing as he rocked the older girl in his arm, their words descending into Italian.

" _How could you?! How could you do this to us?!"_

" _Aisling_ , _please-"_

" _You've_ _ **ruined**_ _us! Our family is dead!"_

" _I never meant for this to happen-"_

" _Why?! Why did you have to get involved?! Why did it matter to you?! Why couldn't you have just kept your head down?!"_

" _They were just children, Ash. Just children-"_

" _ **We were children!**_ _No-one saved us! Why should we care?! They aren't even your_ _ **species**_!"

" _Ash, listen to yourself-"_

" _ **I AM**_ _! You've torn our family to ribbons! Our uncle is dead; he is only the Director now! I haven't seen my mother since you left! Ivy, the one we called sister, has rested in the Underworld since my twelfth year! Fault line, our cousin, he has lost his mind to madness!"_

" _Ash-"_

" _ **Don't call me that!**_ _You have_ _ **no**_ _idea what you have done! The Director, looked what he ordered!"_

" _...what are they?"_

" _Explosives! He wanted us to blow the NBE's back to where they came from!"_

" _But...but this would have taken out the houses-"_

" _He no longer cares! He no longer cares for civilian life! He just wants the NBE's eradicated! If a few civilians die in the crossfire, it's just for the Greater Good!"_

" _Stay here. With me. I can protect you, cousin. I_ _ **swear**_ _!"_

James stumbled a few steps back as the girl pulled herself from Sam's arms, shaking her head, tears still falling down her face. She stumbled a few steps back as Sam lurched upwards, arms reaching towards her, the agony on his face making James flinch back.

" _I cannot."_

With that, the girl turned, running back to the other Elites, Sam crying out her name after her. She slowed to a stop, shoulders shaking, face turned upward as if asking for help.

" _I am sorry, Sam. I cannot return empty handed. They_ _ **will**_ _kill me, Witwicky blood or not."_

With that, she spun, gun in hand and pointed directly at the NBE, who was  _just_ at the line of trees. Ignoring Sam's cry of denial, she fired.

The bullet was finely crafted, able to go distances  _much_  further than five hundred meters. It would strike the NBE on the back, slicing through the protective amour, into the spark chamber. It would puncture it, through and through. The NBE would be offlined before it hit the ground.

She didn't count on Sam jumping into the line of fire, and the same bullet slicing through his shoulder.


	23. Bang Bang Your Dead

_A little earlier..._

Screeching to a stop, the Autobots and the human pulled up at the impact-site. The moment the humans scrambled out and out of the way, they transformed swiftly, snapping to attention, creating a protective ring around the five-

"Prime? We have a problem."

Optimus nodded, lips pressed together tightly behind his battle-mask. There was a pod missing, only four lay together with steam wafting up lazily from them. Lennox cocked his gun, pointing it towards the line of trees, trusting the Autobots to protect his back if necessary. "Hey Prime? How long until these guys wake up?"

"Eight minutes, then- _Bumblebee_!"

The mech in question skidded to a stop, transforming swiftly and something twisted in Optimus' tanks when he saw neither of the teens with him.

"Where are they?!"

In response, the scout activated the commlink.

" _-A pod. Dammit! It must have broken off-course-"_  The group started at Sam's voice, sharp and firm. It also soothed some worried processors, knowing the missing pod was safe.

"- _...Blaze!-"_

" _-On it-."_

There was the sound of running, air whisking past the commlink then a strange,  _twank!_

Fear chocked the throats of the allies as a sudden cry of pain echoed down the link, followed by three more. There was a horrible sound of snarling, shouting, then...

" _-Lightning.-"_

Optimus could have sagged in relief. The boy was alive.

" _-Aqua. Pleasure to see you again.-"_

" _-You should be dead.-"_

Under his breath, the Prime rumbled, his optics narrowed. "That's a bit harsh."

" _-That's a bit harsh, ain't it?-"_

Optimus blinked again, shaking his helm. This was beginning to get ridiculous.

"- _Blaze.-"_

Unseen, Bumblebee sagged slightly, relief that the blonde was alive rushing through him.

" _-It's okay. We understand. Lightning twisted you, but you can be saved. Come home with us, Blaze.-"_

"Wow. That doesn't sound slightly psychotic at all, does it?" Epps suddenly squirmed under the glares he received from the rest of the team. "Just trying to relive the tension..."

" _-You're joking, right?-"_

"You tell 'em, kid." Ironhide smirked under his breath, opinion of the blonde rising higher.

" _-In time, you will see, Blaze. And when you do, we will welcome you home.-"_

Most couldn't stop the shudder that ripped through them.

" _-Attack.-"_

The next few minutes was easily the longest any of the team had experienced since meeting the teens. Clashes, slashes, clanging metal and pain-filled cries twirled down the link, none of the team knowing who each cry belonged to; if one of the teens they owed so much to was the one crying out. Even the soldiers looked on with some degree of worry, shifting uncomfortably. O'Neil turned to look up at Optimus with conflicted eyes, his face drawn with worry.

"Can't we help them?"

Optimus wanted to.  _Oh, he wanted to_. He wanted to flash to the fight, to find Miles, to find  _Sam_. To make sure that both were okay, that neither was hurt, to _protect_  them. It was such a new, strange urge, and it terrified the bot that even the mere  _thought_  of the copper haired teen falling sent a slice of pain through his spark. But he couldn't. This was Sam and Miles' fight. For the Autobots or any of the Rangers to show up, that would merely throw them off and such a mistake could mean the difference in life and death. And so he gave what felt like one of the hardest orders he has ever gave.

"No."

O'Neill closed his eyes, nodding his head, and started pacing. None spoke, each man and mech holding their breaths until a strange clicking noise echoed down the link. Ratchet's head snapped around to Optimus', whose optics narrowed further.

"Prime? What's-" Law was cut off as Blaze's voice echoed down the link.

" _-It's too early! We should have another three minutes!-"_

"Prime?"

"The pod is opening, early."

Lennox spun, forehead creased. "Why?"

"The bot inside feels threatened." Ironhide murmured to his partner, optic-ridges pushed together.

"Prime?" Ratchet broke the silence that followed the echoing cry of pain. "Who do you think-"

"- _ **GENERATOR!-"**_

Sam's strangled cry of fury was cover by Ratchet's scream of terror. He  _knew_  that voice. He lurch forward, towards the trees, his youngling's name being torn from his lips as he was held back by Ironhide.

" _ **JOLT!**_ _"_

"Ironhide! Restrain him!" Prime barked at his Warrior, launching himself forward to try and stop the hysterical carrier from launching himself into danger. The medic kicked and bit, screaming, trying to twist out of his captors servos and make his way to his youngling. The humans ducked back, trying to avoid the medic's flailing limbs. Both Ironhide and Optimus were strong, experienced Warriors, but every Cybertronian knows that neither strength nor skill is a match for a carrier trying to get to its endangered youngling. Jolt's terrified cries still echoed down the link, only increasing his carrier's fear. As if things couldn't get any more out of control, the same clicking suddenly reoccurred much louder as the four pods abruptly broke apart.

" _ **Warning, hostile life-forms located**_ _."_

Prime suddenly found himself alone in trying to contain Ratchet as Ironhide lurched away with a furious cry as one as the transformed mechs took a warning shot at Will, who only just managed to jump out of the way. He collided with the bot, forcing him back with a livid, possessive snarl. One of the mechs glanced around; his optics brightening at the sound of Ratchet's terrified cries. He threw himself forward, wrapping his arms around his bonded and dragging him back to rest against his chassis, whispering soothing clicks in his audio. The mech Ironhide attacked was snarling back at him, the other two coming up to stand behind him defensively, weapons still trained on the humans. Fury flared through the Prime at the sight of the humans who had fought with them, who were willing to die with them on the ground with their hands above their heads, heads bowed and eyes shut. He strode forward, his own voice mingling among the others. The argument grew louder and louder, until...

" _ **SHUT UP!"**_

Whirling around, the four new bots stared at the furious Bumblebee, mouths hanging open at the sound of his voice. Prime opened his mouth to speak, only to find himself silenced at the scout's angry optics as he turned up the volume of the commlink.

" **-** _ **Kid! Kid, listen to me! I'm not going to hurt you, alright! I'm going to take you to Optimus Prime. Prime, you know him?-"**_

" **-** _ **You know Uncle Orion?-"**_

Ratchet gave a weak little moan, his legs buckling at the sound of his youngling, relief flowing through him as the solid belief that the two teens would see he was safe settled through him.

The mech cradling him looked to the Prime, fear in his optics, only to be soothed when he saw the unshaken trust in them. If Prime trusted the one speaking, that was good enough for Wheeljack.

" **-** _ **Okay kid, when I tell you to, you need to run there, okay? Your caretakers are on the other side of those trees. You run there, got it? Don't stop, don't look back, don't slow down, okay?-"**_

Relief started to spread through the Prime, only for that to be shattered as Sam continued.

" _-Go with him.-"_

" _-No. I'm not leaving you. Not again.-"_

" _-I won't thank you if that youngling doesn't make it out of here. Go. Take him to Ratchet. I'll be fine.-"_

" _-Sam-"_

" _-Sam! Miles!-"_

All those who fought at Mission City jerked as a new voice joined the two teens. Judging by the conversation that followed, the two knew the newcomer and were not please to see him.

" _-Don't argue with me! Get the youngling to safety!-"_

" _-Sam-!-"_

" _-It's a child!-"_

Something twisted in Will's stomach. Sam wasn't even eighteen yet. ' _So are you'_ , he couldn't help but brood over.

" **-** _ **Okay Kid, on the count of three. One...Two...Three!-"**_

Then all they could hear was two sets of fast foot-falls and the sound of Jolt intaking rapidly. Both his caretaker started to move towards the trees, only for everyone to freeze as a new, feminine voice overtook the link, the translator twisting the Italian so it could be understood by all.

" _-How could you?! How could you do this to us?!-"_

" _-Aisling_ , _please-"_

" _-You've_ _ **ruined**_ _us! Our family is dead!-"_

" _-I never meant for this to happen-"_

" _-Why?! Why did you have to get involved?! Why did it matter to you?! Why couldn't you have just kept your head down?!-"_

" _-They were just children, Ash. Just children-"_

" _-_ _ **We were children!**_ _No-one saved us! Why should we care?! They aren't even your_ _ **species**_!-"

"- _Ash, listen to yourself-"_

" _-_ _ **I AM**_ _! You've torn our family to ribbons! Our uncle is dead; he is only the Director now! I haven't seen my mother since you left! Ivy, the one we called sister, has rested in the Underworld since my twelfth year! Fault line, our cousin, has lost his mind to madness!-"_

" _-Ash-"_

" _-_ _ **Don't call me that!**_ _You have_ _ **no**_ _idea what you have done! The Director, looked what he ordered!-"_

" _-...what are they?-"_

" _-Explosives! He wanted us to blow the NBE's back to where they came from!-"_

" _-But...but this would have taken out the houses-"_

" _-He no longer cares! He no longer cares for civilian life! He just wants the NBE's eradicated! If a few civilians die in the crossfire, it's just for the Greater Good!-"_

" _-Stay here. With me. I can protect you, cousin. I_ _ **swear**_ _!-"_

The allies were frozen at the sound of Sam's voice, thick with tears. The kid hadn't shed a tear during the resetting of his injuries, the burning of his family home, but now it was obvious this was deep, emotional pain. And those listening felt lower than low at the fact they were all willingly listening to something that should be beyond private.

" _-I cannot.-"_

"- _Aisling! Aisling, please! Please listen to me! Aisling!-"_

Optimus visibly winced at the pain in the teen's voice, wishing that, more than anything, he could take it away.

"- _I am sorry, Sam. I cannot return empty handed. They_ _ **will**_ _kill me, Witwicky blood or not.-"_

" _-NO!-_ _ **"**_

_**BANG!** _

Time seemed to freeze for a second. No one breathed, no one intaked. Silence pressed down on all fronts, the second seemed to stretch. As if moving in slow-motion, Miles and Jolt appeared through the trees, the blonde slowly turning his head, horror crawling across his face. Fear sized Optimus' spark, his throat tightening.

Then time sped up as Sam let out a sickening scream, and an echoing thump hit the ground.

* * *

" _WHAT DID YOU DO?!"_

James threw himself down to where Sam hit the ground, his stomach twisting at the sight that met his eyes. The red-haired girl that shot Sam dropped the gun in shock, her hands flying to her mouth.

" _SAM!"_

She collapsed to the ground at his side, hands reaching out to frame the gasping teen's face. "What were you thinking?!"

James suddenly reared on her, fury dancing in his eyes. "WHAT WAS  _ **HE**_ THINKING?!  **YOU**  SHOT HIM!"

The girl looked back at him, her eyes wild and filled with guilt. "I wasn't aiming for him! I was aiming for the NBE!"

Ignoring her words, James glanced back at Sam's shoulder, fear settling in his stomach. "This is wrong." He whispered under his breath, ripping the shoulder-fabric away quickly. "He's losing too much blood." His eyes darted back up to the shooter. "What sort of bullet was that?"

The girl looked back at him, tears building in her eyes. "Specialised. When it comes in contact with organic material it...it splinters, trying to do as much damage as possible. And-"She was cut off by Sam's sudden, strangled cry of pain. With shaking fingers, she pushed away some of the blood that was literally _pumping_  out of his shoulder, displaying a strange, vivid green substance that was spotted within in the wound and, if James looked closely enough, was starting to dye his veins closest to the wound the same colour. "-it releases a highly toxic, fast-acting poison. And Sam  _knew_  it. He  _knew_  what would happen and he still jumped in the way. You stupid, stupid boy." The last part was directed at Sam, who didn't reply, his breath coming in short, shallow gasps and his skin starting to heat up.

Mind made up, James grabbed his First Aid kit and pulled out a bottle of medicating alcohol, a cloth and a pair of tweezers.

"Hold him still." He barked, eyes not moving from Sam's shoulder. Aqua, acting robotically, held him down with one hand on his good shoulder and another on his chest. She bit the inside of her cheeks as Sam tried to thrash when James, with sure hands, started to wipe away the blood covering his shoulder. He splashed the alcohol on the wound, forcing himself to stay emotionless as the younger male cried out at its sting. He grabbed a small tube of antibacterial hand-gel, sterilizing his hands. When that was complete, he lightly tapped the boy's cheek to draw his attention, frowning at the heat radiating off it. Sam looked at him was fever-bright eyes, head lolling slightly.

"Sam? Can you hear me, Sammy?"

The words were like a badly tuned radio, blurring in and out. James' face was blurry too, and Sam blinked to try and clear it. He just managed to get the gist of what had been asked and he weakly nodded.

"Okay kid, I have to take this bullet out, alright? It's making you really sick and it needs to come out. Now, this is going to hurt, but you're gonna be okay, alright Sam?"

The copper haired teen swallowed and nodded, his face tense. James exhaled shakily, flicking his eyes to Aqua.

"Hold him."

Sam's cousin nodded, her eyes shimmering. James took a deep breath, and moved the tweezers into Sam's shoulder.

Sam screamed as he tried to twist away from the blinding, stomach twisting white-hot agony that was radiating from his shoulder. Vaguely, he was aware of Aisling call out words of comfort, but they were lost in the burning that was spreading from his shoulder.

James pulled one of the twisted pieces of shrapnel from Sam's shoulder, flicking it into the growing pile. He was acting as quickly as possible, the longer the bullet stayed in, the more poison was being released. At least, that's what he was trying to convince himself over the sounds of Sam's screams. As he pulled one particularly large piece out, the teen's back arched as he screamed, his head thrashing back and forth.

"I said hold him!"

"I'm...Trying!"

James had to pause to wipes his hands, they were too slick to maintain grip on the tweezers. As far as he could see, there was only one piece left in the wound, but it was twisted so it was practically buried under the unbroken skin. One hand gripped Sam's shoulder tightly as he attacked the wound again, pressing down hard to stop the boy from jerking up again. After a few agonising seconds, he pulled the last piece out with a cry of victory. Glancing down at Sam, his stomach twisted at his silted eyes. Aqua moved to wipe away a tear track, ignoring the ones cutting her cheeks. Glancing up, her breath froze in her throat at the sight of eight vehicles speeding towards them, four of them looking too alien to be pushed off as paranoia. She lurched to her feet, stumbling away from her barely-breathing cousin. James looked up at her with furious eyes, distaste pouring from them.

"You're just going to leave him?"

She couldn't speak, her throat tight. Her eyes flashed from Sam to the approaching NBEs and back again, wide and panicked. The boy on the ground gave a soft moan, his eyes flicker slightly.

" _Ash..."_

Aqua swallowed and shook her head. "I'm sorry."

With that she turned, fleeing, pushing down the guilt that poured through her when Sam gave out a strangled cry that had nothing to do with his injuries.

* * *

"Sam!"

Miles skidded to his brother's side with a cry, blinking away tears. Ratchet's holo-form shot out of the Hummer, his face tight. He flicked his eyes to the wound, lips pressed together tightly. He glanced up at James's now worried face and gave him a small, reassuring smile.

"You did well."

The young male nodded numbly, hands shaking. The others who fought at Mission City moved forward, the bots in their holo-forms.

Soundlessly, Optimus came to stand just behind Ratchet, unable to speak. His eyes wouldn't shift from the shallowly breathing boy on the ground, something seeming to rise up and choke his throat. Slick, crimson blood cover Sam's shoulder, slipping down his left side, turning his pale green shirt a sickly red and pooling on the grass. Never before had he hated the colour as much.

"Prime?"

Optimus snapped out of his trance, looking down at Ratchet. The medic carefully shifted his eyes towards the still shocked James, and Optimus nodded. Turning to the distraught Miles, his voice hoarse even to his own ears as he asked,

"Will you vouch for him?"

Miles didn't even hesitate as he nodded.

Glancing over at his scout, Bumblebee got the silent order and formed a holo, making his way over to the two humans, his own eyes shimmering as he stared down at one of his best friends.

"Optimus? Can you-?"

The Prime nodded quickly and moved round to Sam's other, uninjured side. Carefully, he bent down and scoped the teen up in his arms, trying not to flinch at both the heat radiating from his skin and the jerk and strangled moan that was torn from his lips. Unconsciously, Optimus tucked the teen's head against his spark and murmured something soothing in Cybertronian, not aware of what he was saying. He rose to his feet slowly and started to make his way over to Ratchet's bi-pedal mode, only to stop sharply as Sam's uninjured arm shot out to grasp Ironhide's shirt.

"Wait." The teen's voice was a rasp. "Did the kid get to Ratch? Did he make it okay?"

Ironhide couldn't speak for a moment, shock freezing his systems. Sensing his partner's shock, Will spoke for him.

"Yeah." His own voice was a rasp, eyes not leaving Sam. He had seen wounds worst that this, had seen death. But, this kid felt like his charge, his younger brother. "Yeah, he made it."

"And Prowl's team?"

The four mechs in question jerked.

"Are they all okay?"

Will flicked his eyes over to said bots and back again. "Yeah, they're fine."

"Good."

With that, his grip went slack and his eyes flickered shut, finally allowing Prime to place him into Ratchet's alt mode. Said medic's holo flickered and disappeared, his engine bursting into life and tearing away, quickly followed by the others.


	24. Understanding

" _shhhh...it's okay. I have you. It's okay Sam, I have you and I won't let you go. You're safe, Sam. I promise..."_

The words faded in and out. Colours blurred together. Fire was dancing in his shoulder and spreading down, then disappearing and reappearing. Shapes and faces grew out of the shadows, family and friends who he had failed coming to judge him.

Vaguely, he was aware of being suddenly in bright sunlight. A high pitched scream cut through the blur of sounds, a scream he remembered.

Mikaela. Mikaela was the one who screamed. He struggled, trying to get up when a pair of bright blue eyes appeared in his vision.

" _No, Sam. Mikaela's fine. Stay still. Stay awake."_

' _No...'_  he wanted to argue,  _'I'm tired...just let me sleep...'_

" _No, Sam!"_ the voice and eyes were panicked now, urgent.  _"You stay awake; do you hear me, Sam? You stay awake!"_

Sam was hazily aware that he was babbling. Calling out for people who wanted him dead, asking things that made no sense. Like, why was the man running beside him so worried? Was someone hurt? Judging by the sudden pain that flickered across the dark-haired angel's face, Sam realised that he may have asked that question out loud. The voice was calling out to him again, but was becoming more and more muted as other voices started to cut through the voice.

" _What the frag is going on here?!"_

" _ **You!**_ _"_

" _Fragging Con!"_

" _Don't fragging touch him!"_

" _Are you_ _ **insane,**_ _Ironhide?! He's a slagging con!"_

" _He is our ally! Leave him alone!"_

" _Stay out of the Bumblebee! This has nothing to-"_

" _Ironhide, what happened to Sam?"_

" _He got shot, Barricade."_

" _What! How?! By who?!"_

" _Why the slag do you care, you filthy-"_

" _All of you, SHUT UP!"_

The man's face-the only thing the teen could focus on- suddenly twisted in anger and he disappeared, unable to hear Sam's muffled cry of loss.

The blackness that curled the edge of his vision rose up and drowned the boy, his head falling to the side limply.

* * *

Ironhide grasped Optimus's shoulder. The Prime jerked as if shot, whirling around quickly. The Warrior let go of his commander's shoulder and pointedly looked down at his arms and shirt. Following his gaze, the Prime blanched at the sick red they were stained in. Nodding jerkily, he turned on his heel and strode from the room quickly, leaving Ironhide to watch on with worried eyes. The Warrior sighed, and then made his way back into the waiting room. Miles hadn't moved; his head still cradled in his arms, only this time, Bumblebee had his arm around his shoulders, looking just as worried. Mikaela had her knees to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, head on James's shoulder. Barricade was with the sparklings, but was comming every thirty minutes to check if there was any news. Ironhide moved from his spot by the door to stand behind Will's chair and, tentatively, wrapped his arms around the tense captain from behind. Instead of fulfilling Ironhide's momentarily fear, the captain melted into the embrace with a soft sigh, letting the mech rest his cheek against his hair. After a few minutes, Epps broke the thick, uneasy silence.

"You okay?"

Mile raised his head slowly, looking at the Ranger with flat eyes as he answered.

"I've been worse."

Epps nodded slowly, then, treading carefully, asked,

"How long ago?"

Miles continued to stare for a handful of seconds. Then his eyes grew hard and he slowly rose to his feet.

"How much do you know?"

"I don't-"

" _HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW?!"_

The room stared at the blonde, eyes wide. Miles' hands were fists, his eyes slits. Mikaela went to go stand beside the blonde, only to back off as it occurred to her that he was not angry. No, the teen was panicked, terrified. His eyes darted around the room, then over to the door leading to med-bay and to the door leading outside. Suddenly, the shocked expression on Will's face cleared as his eyes flicked around the room. Looking at it from Miles' point-of-view, he was trapped in a small confined space, he was unable to get to his brother and, if the Autobots and the humans only knew that they were working for S7 and not what the two teens had done for them, he was in serious danger. Glancing into his partner's eyes, Ironhide reached the same conclusion. He slowly detangled himself from his partner and made his way until he was standing in front of the blonde. Miles took a half step back, wired tightly and eyes desperately trying to hide his fear. Very slowly, Ironhide reached out one hand and placed it on his shoulder and slowly dropped onto one knee.

Miles stared down at him, eyes wide as Ironhide spoke slowly.

"You saved my son's life. I am indebted to you, Agent Blaze."

Miles blinked, shaking his head slowly. "But I- I didn't-Sam-"

"You helped keep him hidden. You helped keep the other sparklings safe. We are indebted to you and your brother."

Miles could only shake his head again, throat closed over. Ironhide rose to his feet once more, grasping his shoulders and his eyes becoming as hard as flint.

"And for that, we will keep you safe from the Elites until our last breaths."

The blonde glanced over at Bumblebee, who nodded back confidently. The teen swallowed and swiped a hand over his eyes, nodding silently as he all but collapsed into his chair again. The thick, choking silence was gone as quickly as it came, until Epps asked the one thing that was nagging him.

"Blondie? That girl, she's not really the Kid's cousin...is she?

Miles closed his eyes and his voice dropped into an emotionless monotone.

"Yeah. Yeah, she is. Her father is Sam's uncle on his dad's side. He married Sam's aunt on his mother's side. Two brothers married two sisters."

"But-but, she shot him."

Miles nodded, exhaling softly. "Aqua is...conflicted. She is loyal to S7 to the death, but Sam is her little cousin and she adored him to pieces, and him to her. She panicked."

"I thought Sam has no family?"

"He doesn't. His uncles are all dead; Aqua's father died a few weeks after his parents' accident. His aunt... she wasn't able to look after herself after her ple-husaband's death, never mind Aqua or Sam."

James's brow furrowed at Miles' stumble over the word 'husband's'. As if he was going to say something else...

"What about the other two she spoke of? Fault line and Ivy?"

"Ivy was Aqua's big sister. She was...amazing. She was such a mother, so smart. The perfect Elite. Sam, Sam adored her. Aqua adored her. When Aqua's mother couldn't look after them, when Banachek didn't give a damn, she was there for them. But she, she had some sort of accident when Sam was ten, a few months before we found out about the sparklings. It killed him; he always blamed himself for some reason. Fault line? Fault line isn't _really_  Sam's cousin. They don't share any blood; he's the son of a family friend. But, Sam saw him as a big brother. Sam practically worshiped the ground he walked on. And Fault line loved Sam too. He was his little brother; Aqua was like a little sister and Ivy? Well, Ivy and Fault line were inseparable. They were each other's one and only. After she died, he went completely off the deep end, seeing enemies everywhere and, for some reason, blamed Sam."

"That's so sad." Mikaela wiped a tear from her eye. "Sam really lost everything, didn't he?"

Miles didn't answer, simply because he didn't need to.

* * *

It wouldn't come off.

Optimus's shirt was on the ground as he scrubbed at his arms. He was in one of the Allies' bathrooms, desperately trying to clean his arms. But it felt that no matter how much he scrubbed his arms, the sick red wouldn't come off. It was still there, slick and warm and he honestly thought he was going to purge-

"Prime?"

Optimus spun, schooling his face into a neutral expression. Will was leaning against the door, a clean shirt in his hand.

"Hey. Uh, this is for you. Hide mentioned something about you wanting to be in something clean?"

Optimus accepted the shirt gratefully, slipping it on quickly. Will continued to stand there for a second, then asked,

"I was just wondering, how-?"

"The holo-forms are made up of a mixture of nanobots and holographic image. The nanobots join together to form the shape and detail, the holographic image give us colour. We can appear like, act like and feel like humans, as well as being able to wear human clothing."

"Oh."

Optimus splashed some water on his face, hoping the cold water would jerk him back into the present. He dried his face, staring at the sink for a moment then turned to the captain,

"Prowls' team. They were in the hanger. Are they-"

"They're fine. Law, O'Neill and Devlin are with them. Things are a little tense, but they're fine."

Optimus nodded, running a hand through his inky hair and sighing softly.

"Thank-you. I need to go check on them now."

Will nodded and went to move, only to pause and pop his head back into the small room, his face soft with concern and reassurance.

"Optimus? Sam will be fine."

The Prime jerked slightly, snapping his eyes to the captain, then nodded with a small, yet very-real smile.

It was unbelievable how much he needed to hear those words. Since Mission City, Optimus and Sam had grown a lot closer, would spend hours just sitting beside eachother and swapping stories. The others had noticed it and though they said nothing, it was obvious that the other Autobots and teens were ecstatic their detached brother/friend was finally able to open up and relax.

"I know."

* * *

Sam opened his eyes slowly, then snapped them shut again with a groan.

"Someone turn off the sun..."  
"I'm afraid I don't have that sort of technology, Sam."

The teen of the bed glared at Ratchet blearily, lifting his hand to rub at his eyes, wincing when the IV pulled slightly. His eyes narrowed slightly as he took in the exhausted lines holo's face. He snapped up straight, face sharp.

"What happened? Who's hurt?"

"What?"

"You look exhausted Ratch, what happened?"

The medic stared at the teen, eyebrows raised in disbelief. " _You got shot_."

"Oh. That's it? No-one else got hurt?"

" _No_ "

"Okay then."

Ratchet shook his head exasperatedly as he moved over to check the teen's vitals. He shone a little torch in his eyes, humming happily when Sam's pupils reacted correctly. "Do you feel any pain?"

"Nope. Nothing. Though, I can't really feel my arm."

"That is expected. I had to freeze the nerve-endings until they were re-joined correctly, it would have been too painful. The numbness should wear off in a few minutes."

"Oh. Great, thanks. So, what's the diagnosis?"

"I managed to extract all of the poison affecting you. However, it did do some damage while it was in there. Your immune system took quite the hit; it's very weak at the minute. In the long run, though, you'll be fine, just more susceptible to illnesses and it will take slightly longer for your body to heal itself. Your arm will be painful for a few days and very stiff for a few weeks, though you'll be doing physiotherapy with me every morning for the rest of July and August. You'll be as good as new by the end of October."

" _October?!_  But, that's only like three months away! Doesn't this stuff take a hell of a lot longer?"

"Speaking from experience?"

"Maybe."

"Generally it would, but this gel-I designed it myself- speeds up the whole process. You just need to take it easy for a few days."

"Oh. Okay, thanks Ratchet."

The medic nodded, still staring at the teen. Sam shifted slightly under his gaze. "What's up, doc?"

What Ratchet did next actually made Sam want to touch the floor to see if hell had frozen over. The medic leaned down and wrapped his arms around the boy in a gentle, but firm hug. Sam blinked, unsure how to react as he slowly brought his arm around to give him a one-armed hug back.

"Ratch?"

"Thank you. Thank you so much. You saved my son,  _thank you."_

Sam's mouth fell open in shock at the medic's hoarse words. "Hey, doc, it's alright, I mean, I didn't really-"

"You jumped in front of a bullet for him. You saved my daughter from torture and experimentation."

"Yeah, well, that's-"

"I will never be able to repay you."

"Hey, doc, it's alright, I mean- _what?!"_

Ratchet blinked down at the boy, who had suddenly gone deathly still.

"Sam?"

"Who told you about that? Who told you about me?  _Who told you about the Elites?!"_

Ratchet spluttered at the teen, trying to make sense of what he was saying.

"John Keller- _SAM!"_

The teen suddenly launched himself from the bed, the IV ripping out his hand with a slice of pain. Ratchet barely had time to blink before he had shouldered the door leading to the waiting room open.

The waiting Allies launched themselves to their feet as the boy they were worrying over burst through the door, eyes flashing.

"Sam!"

"Thank Primus!"

"Are you alright, what-"

Sam ignored the calls, almost teleporting over to where Optimus had re-entered the room.

"Sam! Are you-"

"Optimus! I have something-"

"What happened your hand?!"

Sam's words suddenly died in his throat as the Prime gently lifted his hand, soothing his thumb over the red that stained it. With his other hand, he produced a- _handkerchief?_

' _Damn, those holo's are_ _ **really**_ _realistic'_  the teen mused distractedly as Optimus secured the piece of cloth over Sam's hand. The Prime's eyes flicked up to meet Sam's, who suddenly found himself lost in those eyes. Vaguely, he was  _sure_  there was something important he had to say, but it was drifting away and how much morphine had Ratchet given him?

"Sam?"

"Hmm?"

"What were you saying?"

"Huh? I-uh- _ELITES!"_

Optimus suddenly went very, very still. He leaned back slightly, and Sam realised that the rest of the room had fallen silent. Very carefully, the Prime asked,

"What about them?"

"Who told you?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Optimus," Sam took a step closer to the Prime, his voice lowering, "I  _cannot_  stress how important this is.  _Who told you?"_

Optimus flicked his eyes over Sam's face, searching for something. "Keller."

"Who else?"

"Only Keller."

"Are you  _sure?"_

"Sam!" Optimus stepped closer, so they were practically chest-to-chest, Prime still cradling Sam's injured hand. " _No-one_  else."

"Thank Primus." Sam released a breath he didn't know he was holding. Suddenly, the fatigue he had been pushing down rose up and threatened to overwhelm him. The teen swayed slightly, the floor seemed to rush up to meet him. Suddenly he found himself sitting on one of the vacant chairs with his head in his hands and Optimus's hands on his shoulders. Ratchet knelt down beside Optimus, muttering under his breath.

"Dammit, Sam! What do you think you're doing?! 'Take it easy' I said. But  _nooo_ , he just goes and disobeys, because why should  _I_  know anything! It's not like I'm not a trained professional!"

The teen snorted slightly, rolling his eyes at the medic.

"Chill, doc-bot!"

" _DOC-BOT?!"_

The rest of the Allies suddenly burst out laughing at Ratchet's incredulous tone. Sam peered up at Optimus from under his fringe, grinning at the Prime's twinkling eyes. After a few minutes, the mirth faded, leaving a heavy feeling in the air.

"Sam?"

Sam looked up at Ironhide, his eyes losing their mirth. "Yeah?"

"Why does it matter who told us?"

The teen sighed, running a hand through his hair. He wouldn't tell them. He wouldn't. He knew them well enough that if they knew he and Miles had stayed quiet to protect them, they would blame themselves. And he  _wouldn't_ put that guilt on them.

Unfortunately, his mouth wasn't working on the same channel his brain was on.

"Basically, the President said if we told anyone, he'd throw us in a high security cell, kick you guys off the planet, take the sparklings back, disband the Rangers and arrest Will and what the frag did you give me Ratchet?!"

" _ **WHAT?!"**_

Out of all of them, Ironhide looked the most livid. Well, that was acceptable, seeing as it did affect him, the little girl he saw as his own daughter, his son and his partner. But  _damn_ , the Allies were  _loud_!

After a few minutes, the livid shouting dropped down to a charged silence. Optimus, who had stood to try and stop Ironhide from rushing off to rip the president apart, dropped down on one knee again. He placed one hand on Sam's shoulder and another under his chin, gently tilting his face up so his eyes could meet his. The two just gazed at eachother for a second.

"Sam-"

Optimus was cut off by the sudden loud crashing that came from the hanger, punctured by angry vulgar Cybertronian. The Prime let out a muffled curse, causing Sam's eyebrow to lift, and disappeared, followed by the other three bots. The Allies raced out after them, towards the furious Cybertronian.

* * *


	25. Race Against The Clock

"Come on,  _Cade!"_ Sideswipe's voice was dripping with sarcasm, "Go on. Tell us why you stayed with the cons!

Barricade shook his helm, not speaking, silently thanking Fig and Mathews for ushering the sparklings, Annabelle and Jolt, (despite Wheeljack's protest) back to the sparklings' room at the first movement of hostility.

"Go on! You say you had no choice, well, we're all audios!"

Barricade glanced at Prowl. The tactician had recovered from the hysterics he had fallen into when he first arrived on base and saw his bonded's offline form, but still looked empty. Dead. Pain twisted in his spark at the lost look on his little brother's face.

"Enough."

Barricade, so distracted, jumped at the sound of Optimus's voice. The holo-forms of the mechs who had just entered the hanger dissolved as their bi-pedal modes stood up. Glancing down, his optics landed on Sam, who was being supported by Miles and Bumblebee, who had opted to stay in holo. The teen looked paler than normal and totally exhausted, but he managed to smile weakly at the Ex-enforcer. The noise level in the hanger was beginning to grow, dragging Barricade's attention back to the argument at hand. The Autobots were arguing about his right to be on base, only unlike last time, Ironhide and Ratchet were on Optimus's side.

"He's a fragging  _con!"_

" _He. Is. A. Neutral!"_

"Have you all fritz your processors?! Cons cannot be trusted!"

"Really, Prime, it  _is_ unorthodox."

"'Jack-"

"I'm only saying, Ratch. There are sparklings,  _sparklings_  on this base!"

"I would  _never_  endanger a sparkling!"

"Well sorry for not taking your word on it!"

"I have done many things, but  _never_  hurting a sparkling!"

"You. Are. A Slagging.  _CON!"_

" _I had no choice!"_

" _Really?!_ You had 'no choice'?! Were you  _not_  the one of the first to sign up?!"

"That was before! I had no idea what would happen later-"

"NOTHING WAS STOPPING YOU FROM LEAVING!"

" _YOU WERE!"_

" _ **WHAT?!"**_

"They told me if I left, they would set all of you up! They would  _offline my sparkling_ , my  _bonded! I WAS KEEPING YOU SAFE!"_

" _SLAG! COMPLETE SLAG!"_

Sam swayed slightly, arm going out to steady himself against the wall. Glancing over, Law's eyebrows furrowed at the look of pain that suddenly spasmed across his face.

"Sam?"

The injured teen gave a barely audible moan, lost in the shouting of the Cybertronians and Allies, his other hand moving up to cover his eyes. Law took a few slow steps towards him, hands reaching out slightly. The teen moved, now the heels of his hands were pressing against his closed eyes and he started to double-up slightly, another strangled moan escaping his lips.

"Uh, Ratchet?"

The medic was deaf to Law's call as he tried to reason with his bonded, who was slowly losing his look of blatant hostility. Law took a few steps closer, almost at arms' reach.

"Kid?"

"Shut up." Law jerked back, not by what the kid had said. Because the voice that spoke wasn't Sam's, definitely not. It was much, much older, wiser and had a definite feminine ring. Peering closely at Sam's hands, the Ranger suddenly jerked back a few steps in shock. Twisting symbols were starting to appear on his hands. They were light silver to begin with, but quickly darkening and lightening to a vivid, electric blue, shining as if a light was shining within the teen and was pushing itself out.

"Holy shit..."

Optimus was distracted from arguing with Sideswipe when he unexpectedly shivered. He blinked, shaking his head to clear the feeling, only to be forced to stop again when the shiver ran through him again, only stronger. Ratchet turned away from Wheeljack for a second to look at the Prime.

**:Did you-:**

**:-Yes:**

Sam's hands dropped, his head tilted down, allowing his hair to cover his face as he took a few steps forward. Devlin glanced over at the boy, keeping an eye on him as he moved closer to the fighting Cybertronians.

"Shut up. Shut up, shut up,  _shut up_! How dare you judge another for their crimes, when you are dripping with your own?! "

Sideswipe cut himself off as he stared down at the insolent insect.

"How dare you-"

"I said  _SHUT UP!"_

Sam's head snapped up and the silver bot almost wheeled backwards, a strangled gasp leaving his vocalizer. The rest of the Allies and Autobots moved to look the teen in the face, only to stumble back at what they saw.

Every inch of his skin that was visible was covered in glowing glyphs. His eyes were glowing, silver glyphs dancing around his pupil. His hair stared to move, as if tossed by a light breeze, and Allspark energy radiated off him, as powerfully as how quick it came.

"I am  _sick_  of this! Sick of the fighting, the death, the pain! These beings are your brothers and sisters; you must treat them as such! I am so tired of hearing my children cry for me in their last moments!"

"S-Sam?"

Optimus stared down at the teen, optics shuttering as he tried to take in what he was seeing, his processor threatening to seize.

Sam looked up at the Prime and tilted his head slightly, a small smile curling on the edge of his lips.

"No. I am not Sam."

The voice was defiantly a female, very old, very powerful. The voice itself seemed to echo, ringing with power.

"Then, who are you?"

"Don't you remember me, Orion?"

Suddenly, a light seemed to flow out form the teen, rising up, overlapping the human shell to form the basic outline of what looked like a femme. Optimus's optics brightened and his throat tightened, unable to speak until the vision disappeared. When it did, he dropped down onto one knee, bowed his head reverently and whispered, "Allspark."

The other mech practically threw themselves into the same position as their Prime, not daring to look up. After a moment's hesitation, the Allies put away their weapons and followed suit.

"Look at me."

Optimus lifted his head slowly, unable to look away from the Allspark's eyes.

"I have seen this war. I watched the beginning, the middle and I declare this the end. Heed my words. No more energon shall be spilt in my name."

"But-how? Your vessel was destroyed-"

The Allspark's eyes flashed to Ironhide, who as staring, unable to make sense of what was happening. They flicked over the bot and softened.

"Dijon," The black mech froze further at the sound of his name, " _Think_. 'Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be transformed'. I was never gone, I am everywhere and nowhere."

"M'lady?"

The Allspark turned to look at the blonde organic kneeling before her. Slowly, he raised his head. "My brother? What will become of him?"

The Allspark held his gaze for a moment, then softened further. "I recognise you. You watched this before."

Miles nodded, biting his lip. "Your brother will be fine. He will be returned in a matter of minutes." The Allspark turned and looked up at Prime again. "Send the message to those across the skies. This is their ho-"The Allspark cut off with a cry of pain, doubling over. For a second, the symbols and energy vanished as Sam cried out in agony.

"Sam!"

James, the closest to the teen, lurched forward, only to freeze when Sam's head snapped up and his arm flashed out.

" _Don't touch me!"_

Suddenly, the Allspark was in control once more as its organic shell straightened up. "This shell cannot host me for too long. It's not strong enough. I must speak quickly. Prime, you are my voice. My children are to come here, to their home. Send my message across the stars."

Numbly Optimus nodded, his optics bright.

"Very well then-what? What? How are you-no. No. Stop it! Stop it, Sam!"

Slowly, the Autobots and Allies looked up at the Allspark. Its head moved from side to side, muttering to itself.

"No! Don't! That requires too much energy, No! Leave him!"

"Allspark?"

The Allspark's eyes snapped to Prime, harsh and serious. "Talk some sense into him, he actually listens to you!"

Optimus blinked. "Who?"

"Sam!"

Suddenly, the Allspark shuddered with a cry of pain, and Sam was in control again. He doubled over, agony shaking his frame as he knelt onto one knee.

"Sam!"

"Prime! Get-Me-To-Jazz" The boy bit out through gritted teeth, his good arm snaking up to grip his hair, oblivious to the looks of astonishment on the others' faces.

Prowl moved forward slightly, pain gripping his spark at the sound of his bonded's name.

"Sam?"

" _No_ w, Prime! I-I can't- I can't hold this much long-ger-" His words trailed off into another cry of pain, red-hot fire running through him. Suddenly, the Allspark was back, pleading with the Prime.

"You cannot! It's too dangerous-"

Then Sam appeared once more. " _Please_  Prime! He wants to come home!"

The room was silent; no-one couldn't take their eyes off the shaking boy. Slowly, Optimus asked the teen the question on everyone's lips, the one they couldn't bring themselves to ask,

"Who?"

What he said next almost made Prowl crash in shock. He leapt forward, only to be caught by Barricade. For the first time since the start of the War, he didn't fight against his older brother's arms.

" _Jazz!_ _ **Please,**_  Prime!"

Optimus was gaping, shaking his head at the spasming teen. Impossible. Jazz was dead, gone. Nothing was going to bring him back.  _Nothing_.

"Sam-"

"For Primus sake, Jazz, say something!"

"Slag." Sideswipe shook his head, backing away from the teen. "Complete slag. He's faking, he  _has_  to be."

"Shut up, Sideswipe!" Ironhide barked at the Frontliner, worried optics on the teen.

"Oh come _on_ , Ironhide! This is complete-"

What happened next stole the words out of Sideswipe's vocalizer completely. Because the next word out of his mouth was the one thing the teen couldn't possibly know. Sam's voice dropped, and his eyes locked directly on Prowl.

" _Prowler."_

" **JAZZ**!" The tactician gave a scream as he tried to leap forward, clawing his way towards the teen. The other Cybertronians leapt back at what was most _certainly_ Jazz's voice that came from the teens mouth. Optimus was flat out gaping, shaking his helm.  _Impossible._

" _Prime!_ " Sam was back, crying out for the Prime. " _Please!_ "

Tears were staring to form in the human's eyes. "Please don't make me leave him! He's alone, he's scared!  _PLEASE!_ "

" _Optimus!"_ Tears were pouring down the tactician's face, unprevented. " _Please!_  That was  _Jazz! Please, Optimus!"_

Optimus wasn't sure which shocked him most, the face Prowl was sobbing or the fact he had called him Optimus. Ratchet placed a hand on his shoulder,

"Prime-"

He could hear the heartache and hope in the medic's voice. Looking around the room, the same expression was mirrored on the other Cybertronians. The humans were staring at Sam, most with pained expressions on their faces at the sight of the agonised teen. Sam looked up at him, tears slipping down his face.

" _Please"_

Optimus shuttered his optics and prayed to Primus that he was making the right decision. He reached out and lifted the convulsing teen gently. Rising quickly, the Prime turned on his heel and jerked his helm towards the door. At once, the rest of the group sprinted over to the exit. As one, they sprinted out into the sunshine, across the yard and ducking into the practically empty hanger.

There was nothing in the hanger, except one large, Cybertronian-sized table. In the middle of it lay Jazz's offline form, surrounded by tiny candles that provided the only soft light in the room.

Ratchet had done a great job. Every dent and scratch had been soothed away, his armour was as shining as when Iacon was strong and his visor was repaired once more. A complete hush fell over the group, as if they had just walked into a deeply scared area. Slowly, Optimus placed Sam at Jazz's helm. The boy leaned over, placing a hand at either side of the bot's face and gazing into the dark visor.

"P-Prowl?" The teen's voice shook slightly, not lifting his gaze. Prowl moved forward, his entire body trembling. Barricade moved to stand beside him, hand on his back to keep his brother steady and not even Sideswipe argued his place. The tactician lifted Jazz's cold servo, wincing at its coolness.

Sam shut his eyes, and what happened next left the watchers speechless.

The symbols reappeared on his skin, and a substance that looked like a heavy, glowing gas seemed to pour out of them. The symbols didn't appear in his eyes, reaffirming that it was  _he_  who was in control. Slowly, the energy moved to creep down Jazz's form, melting down into his closed spark-chamber.

However, soon became clear to see the strain on Sam's face. He couldn't hold this, not for long. The substance was beginning to flicker, disappear before it reached the chamber.

"Prowl. Talk to him. Give him a reason to wake up." The teen rasped, hands shaking. Ratchet stepped forward, worry painted across his faceplates as Sam's heart-rate sky-rocketed, only to be stopped by Wheeljack, unwilling to let his newly reunited bondmate move closer to the possible danger. The humans were on the bots shoulders or in their hands, biting their lips in worry, but, like the Cybertronians, had expressions of awe on their faces.

Slowly, Prowl leant down until his lips were at Jazz's audio. "Jazz? I need you to come back, love. There something I did not get to tell you, have not told anyone." Tears were once again beginning to clog the broken Autobot's voice. "I only found out after you had left."

Gently, he moved Jazz's hand, (was it just him, or did it feel warmer?) to rest over his spark chamber. "I am carrying, Jazz."

The watchers froze, not even the sound of intaking could be heard as they stared at Prowl. The bot ignored them as he continued to speak to his offline bonded.

"I could not tell anyone, did not want to risk any Decepticons finding out. Our sparkling, Jazz. I am due in a few orns, love. That is why you need to come back. I cannot do this without you. I need you, Jazz. I love you. Please come home."

Sam grip on consciousness was slipping. The energy that he was guiding was overpowering him. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe. But he was  _so close_. The darkness that almost overwhelmed him a handful of minutes ago, (had such little time truly passed? So much had happened...) rose up again, gaining more and more ground with each slow, sluggish second. He pushed against it as hard as he could, but his grip was slipping.

_Just...a little...longer..._

"Please, Jazz..."

Prowl's whisper was the last thing he heard as he spiralled into darkness.

* * *

Sam was staring up at Ratchet. The holo-form let out a relived sigh as light sparked in the boy's eyes again, moving back slightly. Other than that, the room was completely silent. The teen sat up slowly, every inch of his body protesting, shockwaves of pain still running through him. He was back in med-bay, only this time, he and Ratchet weren't alone. Optimus stood near the door, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and his hair shadowing his face. Ironhide stood beside him, arm wrapped around Will's shoulders. Mikaela sat on the ground, beside the shell-shocked Barricade. Bee and Miles sat at their other side, beside the silent Epps. Sitting on the windowsill was a male, a few years older than Bee, but still younger than Barricade and Optimus. His hair was platinum blonde, the same sort of tousled style as Sam's, with Autobot blue eyes. He was dressed in grey camouflaged trousers and a slim-fitting black shirt, fiddling with his dogtags and his single snake-bite, but unable to take his calculating eyes off the teen. This had to be Sideswipe; the holo just didn't seem to fit anyone else.

Leaning next to Ratchet was a man just a bit older than him. Curly brown hair, bright blue eyes with crows feet and laughter lines set off his face. Dressed in a simple blue shirt and dark slacks, it was obvious from the way he glanced at the medic that this was the infamous Wheeljack. The lack of the other Rangers answered Sam's unasked question of where the sparklings were.

Beside Sideswipe was a man about the same age, with shoulder-length dark brown hair, a patch of facial hair and dressed in simple blue jeans and a green shirt. Sam was unable to name the mech, realising he was the unnamed mech from Prowl's team.

_Prowl._

Sam's eyes darted back to Optimus's, who had raised his head to meet the teen's gaze. His eyes were flat, nothing in them. Sam's heart started to sink.

_He wasn't fast enough._

Abruptly, the door to med-bay opened. Standing there was a chocolate haired man. His skin was pale like Barricade, with the same short and spiky hair. His shirt was crisp and white, sitting over a pair of dark blue jeans. The holo looked at Sam from behind a small pair of glasses, and azure eyes shimmered.

"Prowl." Sam's voice was a rasp. "Prowl, I'm so-"

His words died in his throat as a figure moved behind the holo. This man looked about the same age as Optimus, with short, spiky black hair. The figure was wearing a slim-fitting green t-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. He was tanned, slightly darker than Ironhide and had sparkling blue eyes.

In the corner of his eyes, Sam could see the smiles stretching across the faces of the humans and holos, but he couldn't take his eyes off the man behind Prowl. The man slipped his arms around the man from behind, resting them protectively across the holo's stomach as he rested his chin on the now beaming Prowl's shoulder. Sam could feel his own smile spreading in response as the holo spoke.

"Hey, Kid. Miss me?" Jazz grinned, winking at the teen.


	26. Jealously and Healing

"I wonder who Ratchet is pissed at more," Miles mused, leaving against Bumblebee, "Sam, Prowl or Jazz?"

Bumblebee shook slightly in silent laughter. "Tough one. Prowl is the first carrier since Barricade, Jazz was dead for two months and came back to life, and Sam was able to channel the Allspark. Either way, his processor is on the fritz."

"-AND ANOTHER THING! WHAT WERE YOU  _THINKING?!"_

The three mentioned just stood there, Jazz's arm around Prowl's waist, shoulder to shoulder, eyes downcast and nodding every few minutes. Ratchet's holo paced in front of them, ranting and throwing his hands into the air.

"Doc-Bot, It's not that big a-"

" _Don't you dare, Samuel James Witwicky!"_

Sam shrunk back from the furious medic. "Do you have  _any_  idea how  _dangerous_  that was?!"

"It's not-"

"Your heart  _stopped!_ For  _thirty-two-point-six-five seconds!"_

Ratchet's incredulity rose when Sam merely shrugged, looking completely unconcerned. "So? I'm alive, aren't I? Jazz is alive too, no harm done."

Ratchet continued to splutter at the cool teen, until, finally, the medic seemed to run out of steam and he slumped down onto one of the couches in the Rec Room. Wheeljack, who had been tickling Digi and smiling at her excited squeals, slipped an arm around his bonded, smiling slightly when the medic grumbled about, 'Stupid idiots trying to cause my spark to seize' and snuggled into the inventor's embrace, pulling Jolt onto his lap and pressing a kiss against his helm. Jazz grinned, dropping down into one of the arm-chairs beside Miles and Bumblebee and pulled Prowl onto his lap, the tactician pressing his face into his neck, their hands resting protectively over the paler mech's stomach. Sam smiled slightly at the two, eyes shining contentedly, then stretched.

"Right, I'm off."

"Huh?"

"Got a date."

"You  _WHAT?!"_

Sam's reply was lost as he slipped out the door. Ratchet struggled with himself for a moment, part of him wanting to storm down the hallway, drag the boy to med-bay and lock him in there for at least a week, but he just couldn't make himself leave the addicting pull of his bondmate's arms and his son's sparkbeat.

None noticed Optimus's slightly confused eyes.

* * *

About a half-hour later, Epps, who had been chatting with Hound (the newbie who had mainly stayed quiet), looked up at the sound of a door opening, and choked slightly on his beer. Then, ignoring Sam's desperate ' _Shut Up!'_ look, he gave a low wolf-whistle. The teen, who had been  _trying_  to sneak past everyone without anyone noticing, suddenly found himself at the centre of attention.

And Optimus's mouth dropped open. Sam's ratty old jeans had been swapped for a pair of new black ones, sitting low on his hips. His leather jacket was thrown over a slim blue shirt, which clung to him like a second skin. Sam's silver lightning-bolt necklace, which was normally hidden under his shirt, glinted, matching his stud and silver hoop. The teen had also put on just a tiny smidge of eyeliner, making his eyes stand out even bluer than usual. Finally, his hair had been upgraded from 'Messy' to 'Just been kissed senseless'.

Almost the entire room burst into catcalls and whistles, causing the normally shameless teen to drop his eyes to the floor, a light flush staining his cheeks. The noise jerked the Prime back to the present, causing him to snap his mouth shut immediately, but not quick enough to stop Barricade from noticing and grinning. "Looking good, kid!" The neutral called, causing the teen to peer up through long, dark lashes and smile slightly, and Optimus's could have  _sworn_ his spark twisted. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Sam made his way over to where James was sitting beside Epps, Hound, Bumblebee and Miles. The brunette looked up and grinned at his friend, brown eyes glittering with amusement as he handed Sam a cup of tea

"So...you're like, ninjas?"

Sam almost choked on his tea and Miles laughed, causing Bumblebee's spark to pulse a little faster.

"Ninjas? Where- What?"

Jazz just laughed at the comical look on Sam's face, torn between incredulity and embarrassment. Epps grinned, and then waved over at some of the mechs who were still staring at Jazz.

The spell was broken and mechs laughed weakly, still blinking at the sight of Jazz's holo and the soft look on Prowl's face. Mikaela quickly made her way over to the far corner, where Optimus, Ironhide, Bumblebee, Prowl, Jazz, Sam, Miles and Will were relaxing, with James at the centre.

"So, you guys are giant alien robots?"

"Yes."

"And you're currently fighting against the Decepticons, who want to enslave the human race?"

"Yes."

"And Sam brought your friend Jazz, who had been dead, back-to-life and you don't understand how?"

"Yes."

"And Sam and Miles were part of some Ninja-Assassin-Spy group thing, and turned on them to help save your kids?"

"Yes."

James turned to stare at the lightly blushing Sam and Miles. "And every second I stay here is putting my life at risk, with the possibility of me dying before I'm 30 increasing by the minute?"

"Yes."

James blank expression split when his face cracked into a grin. "Where do I sign up?"

Sam's response was cut off when his phone rang. He muttered out an apology as he stood.

"Hello?...Mathew?...Yeah...yeah..What?...Are you-...Right...I'm on my way..."

Snapping the phone shut, the teen threw a hand up in a quick goodbye as he strode across the room and disappeared out the door. Optimus, whose eyes had followed the teen's steps, looked back at James, Miles and Mikaela. The nineteen year old and two seventeen year olds had identical looks of annoyance on their faces as they stared at the door where Sam had vanished. Jazz coughed awkwardly, eyes also on the three.

"So...For some reason, I'm thinking you don't like...uh..."

"Nope." The tight look on Mikaela's face was enough to make the rest of the group want to wince.

"And that's because...?"

"Let's just say, when Sam needed him most, Mathew did nothing to help him." No-one wanted to question the fire in Miles's eyes. Sudden annoyance spiked through the Prime at the thought of the older teen not being there for Sam. ' _Mathew has the honour of being chosen by Sam, and he isn't there when he is needed?'_ Optimus thought to himself furiously, ' _Does he think himself more important than Sam? How dare that-'_

The Prime started, blinking rapidly. Why was he so annoyed by this? Sure, Sam is someone he would consider as close friend, but surely that wouldn't cause annoyance as large as this?

Optimus blinked again, shook his head and murmured a goodbye, running his fingers through his hair as he left to try and clear his head.

* * *

Optimus sat upright in bed, frowning at the moon shining through his window. He couldn't sleep. Why couldn't he sleep? The mech sighed, rubbing a hand across his face wearily. Pushing off the blankets, he rested his elbows on his knees, running his fingers through his hair. Optimus sighed, sitting up and stretching. Realising he probably wasn't going to get any sleep, he stood up, quickly changing into the extra pair of trousers and shirt Will had given him, mentally noting that he needed to get clothes soon, tomorrow if nothing else came up. He grabbed the book that was sitting beside his bedside table, _(Sam smiled lightly at him, momentarily ignoring the celebration of Will and Ironhide 'Not being idiots' and handed him a book. "Here, try it. I think you might like it._ ") And crossed his apartment, slipping out into the dimly-lit corridor and silently shutting his door behind him.

He slipped into the Rec room and navigated his way through the dark, sinking into one of the sofas and flipping on the small light on the table beside it. Pulling off his shoes, he curled up, propping his elbow up on the arm and resting his head in his hand. Suddenly, a low growl almost made the Prime jump out of his skin. Dead in front of him, curled up on one of the armchairs, Storm stared at him with eyes glinting in the light. The dog hopped off the chair and stalked over to the Prime, glaring (since when do dogs  _glare?_ ) at him. Very carefully, the Prime stretched out his free arm and offered his hand to the dog. He stared at the hand for a second, sniffed, then barked happily and curled up at the Prime's feet. Blinking bemusedly, Optimus shook his head and, flicking open the book; he started reading, grinning slightly a few pages in. The copper-haired teen most certainly had good taste.

Though it only seemed like a few minutes, Optimus was jerked out of the book a few hours later when the Rec-room door opened. Sam poked his head in, blinking at the sight of Optimus curled up on the sofa with Storm snoozing at his feet. The two stared at eachother, both looking like they had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

"Ratch is going to kill you for both sitting up this late and reading in crappy light."

"Ratchet is going to be furious you're only getting in at this time."

Sam's face curled into a grin. "I won't tell if you don't"

Optimus couldn't stop grinning back. "Deal."

Sam slipped in completely, motorcycle keys swinging from his finger. He walked over to the little kitchen area, opening one of the top cupboards and called over his shoulder,

"Tea?"

Optimus stared as the teen walked across the room. Well, not so much walk as danced, every step and movement fluid and graceful. He shook his head at Sam's call, snapping himself back to the present.

"Yes, thank you."

After a few minutes, Sam made his way across the room and handed the Prime a steaming cup, who took it gratefully. Sam kicked off his shoes and curled up on the sofa beside him, their shoulders just brushing as the sipped their tea, one of his hands snaking down to rub the sleepy dog's head.

"How is your arm? Any pain?"

Sam shook his head, smiling at Optimus as he sipped, eyes closing as warmth seemed to envelop him. "Nah, it's fine. Just like a little twinge now and again. Believe me, I've had worse." The teen finished with a soft laugh, shaking his head.

"I suppose you have."

"Go on." Optimus started as Sam swung around slightly so they were face-to-face. "You're curious, neither of us can sleep. Ask what you wish."

Optimus stared at his for a second, then a spark burst in his eyes and he leaned forward.

The next hour was spent by Sam answering most of Optimus's questions about the Elites, and asking some of his own about Cybertron both so enthralled that they barely noticed the time passing. They would have most likely stayed like that for the few hours left of the night, only to be jerked back to reality when Sam's phone buzzed. The teen glanced down at it, a slight frown twisting his features.

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah, just a text from a friend of Mathew's."

Unseen by the teen and for reasons still unknown to himself, Optimus's eyes narrowed.

"I almost forgot, how was your date?"  _Why did that word taste so...vile?_

However, Sam smiled slightly, and that seemed to make up for the annoyance that spiked through the dark-haired mech. "Great, thank-you."

They slipped back into comfortable silence, until Sam twisted his wrist ever-so-slightly, causing the leather wristband to slip down his arm slightly, displaying his wrist. Subconsciously, Optimus's eyes were drawn to it, and he tilted his head slightly. It just occurred to the Prime that he had never seen Sam's bare wrists before, and thus never saw the tattoo that curved around his left wrist. It was a simple, twisting black vine of...ivy. Optimus blinked, and suddenly the twisting pattern in the ivy became decipherable.

_Esmeralda. 05/14/75~07/20/00_

Ivy. Optimus's eyes widened. The cousin that had been like a sister to Sam. Today was her death-date.

"She didn't want to be forgotten."

Optimus's eyes snapped to Sam, but the teen was staring off into space, eyes lost in memories.

"Your cousin?" Optimus hesitantly ventured. Sam's eyes slid shut and he took an unsteady breath as he nodded. He tried to calm himself, but memories of that day were springing back to life, throwing him off-course.

"We were in India. An NB- Con. A Con. Sorry, no offense intended."

* * *

" _Lightning!"_

_The masked youth looked up at Ivy's call, head tilting when he saw the fear in her eyes. "Ivy? What's wrong-"_

_His 'big sister' grabbed him and pulled him into an empty lab, eyes flashing around the room. She knelt down and took his face in her hands._

" _Sammy, listen to me."_

_Sam started, eyes widening at the use of his name. "Esme, what's-"_

" _Hear, take these!" She stuffed a handful of files into Sam's hands, who quickly hid them under his cloak._

" _Do not read them until the time is right!"_

" _What are you talking about?"_

" _This is my last time. I'm being followed, watched. I'm-They're-I don't have long."_

" _Emse, what are you-? Who are you talking about?!"_

" _This family is rotten."_

_Sam jerked back, eyes wide. This family. She didn't just mean their family; she was talking about everyone, the Elites, Sector Seven._

" _What? What do you-"_

" _I can't take this to Jason, he is in too deep. But you-You'll learn soon."_

" _Esme, you're scaring me."_

" _I'm sorry, little brother. I'm sorry I cannot protect you." Suddenly, she tore off her own mask and gently pulled off Sam's, and closing her jade eyes, placed a kiss on his forehead._

" _I know it's hard to imagine, but one day you are going to know. They will teach you their biggest secret, the thing they have been hiding from the world. And I know you. You won't stand by; you'll end up like me."_

" _Esme-"_

_Esmeralda pulled back, ignoring the tears in her eyes. "And when that happens, if you want to get out alive, run for your life."_

* * *

Optimus shook his head, even though the teen could not see. "None taken."

"Anyway, a Con landed in the middle of the slums. It was going completely insane, butchering everything that moved. Ivy and I, we were teamed together by the Director. We 'worked well as a team' and this mission required 'specialist handling'. I was so damn stupid."

* * *

" _Call for back-up!"_

" _I can't! The PADD's aren't working! It's like-"_

" _The line has been cut."_

" _What? No, they wouldn't! You're-"_

" _SAM! NO-!"_

" _ESME!"_

* * *

Sam's now cold tea was set on the ground as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and dropping his face into his palms. Optimus set his empty cup on the ground as he moved over on the couch slightly and, cautiously, placed a reassuring hand on his back. Sam didn't throw him off, if anything, the tension in his back uncoiled slightly. He continued, his voice muffled, and it suddenly struck Optimus that Sam had likely never spoken of his cousin's death before now, had kept the exact details of what had happened that night a secret for seven years

"There were five groups, but the Con was huge and, damn, he was silent. It was dark, so we could only see him when he blew something up and the flames lit him up. I was too slow and he had me pinned. I was as good as gone, but then...Ivy, she...She jumped in front of me. Everything's just a blur after that. I dragged her into one of the still standing buildings. She was so scared. Kept telling me to keep talking to her, to keep her awake. Told me she loved me, she loved Aisling, she loved Jason. Then she was just...gone."

* * *

" _ESME! Esme, look at me! Stay awake, do you hear me! Oh gods, just-just keep breathing!"_

" _Sammy...please...don't...Don't leave me...here...alone""_

" _I'll never let you go"_

_So much blood covered Esme's chest, some staining her lips. Sam grabbed the PADD and screamed into, begging for help._

" _What's...what's happening out-"_

" _Ignore it, Esme! Just-just keep awake, okay, keep your eyes on me!"_

_Sam cradled her head on his lap, stroking her hair, his tears falling onto it and mixing with the blood that matted the normally shinning mahogany. "It's going to be okay...help's on its way...just stay awake..."_

" _So...cold..."_

" _I know, I know."_

_Sam pressed his forehead against her's, wrapping his arms around her and trying to warm her with his own heat._

" _Sammy...tell Jason I love h-him...And Aisling...my baby sis-ter..."_

" _They'll know...I swear it on the blood of my ancestors they'll know."_

"' _Love you, Sammy...baby...bro-"_

" _I love you to Esme...Please don't leave us..."_

" _Esme?"_

" _Esme, please answer..."_

" _Please..."_

_The door exploded open. Fault Line burst in, took one look at his sobbing brother and his intended's blank eyes and let out an animalistic scream. Jason ripped his mask away and fell to his knees, pulling her still-warm body out of the shell-shocked Sam's arms and rocked her back and forth, screaming and begging her to wake up. Aqua pushed past the frozen Director and screamed, rushing to her almost brother-in-law's side and calling for her sister to wake up, tears streaming down Aisling's face. The broken boy looked up at the Director, who merely closed his eyes at the sight of his niece and walked away._

* * *

Suddenly, he was crying.  _Crying._ What in the name of Primus was  _wrong_ with him?! He could practically count the number of times he had cried since he was six off the top of his head, and  _four_  of the times had happened since he met the Cybertronians. Part of him wondered why Optimus hadn't just left.

He was answered barely a second later, when the mech basically dragged him up and wrapped his arms around him, murmuring soft words. Turning, Sam buried his head in his friend's chest and sobbed, tremors wrecking his slight frame. He should be furious, should be disgusted at his weakness, and should be pulling away and running as far away from his friend as possible.

But he couldn't, couldn't leave the addicting feeling of pure and utter safety that enveloped him.

Soon (too soon for both of them), Sam pulled away, angrily dashing at the tears that marked his face. Optimus caught his hand in his own, his other reaching up to gently brush the marks away.

"I'm-"

"Do not dare apologise." Optimus's voice was sharp, in contrast to his soft eyes. "You truly think I would think any less of you?"

The red-head shrugged, cheeks heating up slightly. Slowly, Optimus brushed a piece of the copper-hair behind Sam's ear, fingers just lingering on his cheek. The two stared at eachother, blue eyes on blue as something seemed to draw the two together; they leaned in closer until...

_Buzz Buzz_

The two jerked back as Sam's mobile vibrated, a message flying in. Glancing at the screen, he winced at the time.

"I should-"

"-late, yes-"

"-So, Goodnight-"

"-Goodnight"

Sam quickly scrambled to his feet, only to hesitate and, so fleeting Optimus almost thought he had imagined it, he pressed a swift kiss against his cheek. Then the teen was gone, leaving nothing but a shell-shocked Prime and a vague sent of lemons behind.

Slowly, Optimus's fingertips moved up to brush across his cheek. The kiss meant nothing, really. He had seen Sam kiss the sparklings on the helm, had kissed Mikaela on the forehead after learning she had passed all her exams. Sam was in a relationship ( _That word seemed even viler)._  Some humans did it as a sign of friendship and nothing more. Sam was merely thanking him for helping his through his grief.

So why was heat rushing to his cheeks and his spark pulsing faster than normal?

Optimus shook his head as he got to his feet and turned off the light. It was just the stress from the War finally taking its toll, making him imagine things and throwing his feelings into haywire. The Prime made his way back to his room, and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

* * *

She smiled as she watched the gold bond that had been so tarnished, so tainted, started to shine.


	27. Shopping

"I'm not wearing that."

"Come on, Optimus! Have a little faith!"

Optimus peeked out from behind the curtain, neon eyes sharp on the teen lounging in the chair just outside. Blue eyes grinned back at him, seeming blind to his glare.

"You cannot be serious!"

"Try it on!" Sam sing-songed, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin in his palms. After Optimus had hesitantly suggest going and getting some clothes, the other Autobots and humans had quickly agreed and paired off, Miles with Bee, Hound with Mikaela, Jazz with Epps and so on. Prowl, Barricade, Sideswipe, Ratchet and Wheeljack had decided to stay at base with the other Rangers. So here they were, first thing on a Saturday morning with the humans helping the Autobots find something to wear. Most of the time things went basically smoothly, except for the odd argument, such as this one.

"No! It's- No!"

Mikaela peeked her head into the dressing-room section. "Everything alright boys?"

"Yep!"

"No!"

"Try it on!"

"Not. Happening."

"Fine then."

Optimus blinked at Sam. He honestly hadn't expected him to give in to easily. Mikaela snorted and his eyes snapped to her smirking face.

"Oh Prime, you've brought this on yourself."

"Excuse me?"

The girl merely laughed and walked away, shaking her head at Optimus's naivety. The Prime blinked after her, and then turned back to Sam.

"Sam? What was she-"

Optimus trailed off when he saw that Sam wasn't looking at him; his gaze was glued to the floor.

"Sam?"

The teen sighed slightly, and then looked up at Optimus. The teen's shoulders pulled in slightly and he made his eyes go almost impossibly wide, looking up through his dark lashes, bottom lip pushing out slightly.

"Please, Optimus?"

Sam said it so softly, Optimus had to almost strain to hear it. Numbly Optimus nodded, ducking back behind the curtain, only to reappear just as quickly.

"Seriously, Sam?! That was cheating"

Sam dropped the 'innocent' look as quickly as he gained it, smirking at Optimus's betrayed expression.

"I never said I play fair, Optimus."

The Prime muttered something under his breath as he quickly got changed, then stepped out from behind the curtain.

"Well?"

Sam looked up from the spot he was staring at on the floor, his razor gaze slowly moving up Optimus's body until he finally met the Prime's eyes, a crooked smile spreading across his lips. Just as slowly, Sam rose from the chair like a cobra from a basket and made his way over to the mech. Carefully, nimble fingers fixed the Prime's collar and straightened his tie. The hands then moved up to rest on Optimus's shoulders and softly turned him to face the full-length mirror.

"There. See?"

Optimus tore his eyes from Sam's reflection to look at his own, and one eyebrow arched.

"Actually...not bad."

Sam grinned at him, then shooed him back to the dressing cubicle. "Get changed! We have to meet the others in half-an hour."

* * *

Jazz gazed over his dark-blue shades (very similar to his visor) at Ironhide. The Warrior, who had once laughed for almost joor at the mere  _idea_ of being domesticated, was leaning back in his chair and pressing soft kisses against Will's neck, eyes lightly closed. After a few minutes, the captain turned his head and brushed a kiss against the Warrior's lips, Ironhide's hand coming up to gently cup Will's neck. When the kiss ended, Ironhide's eyes slowly opened, never leaving Will's hazel, and Jazz couldn't stop himself from grinning at the look in the mech's eyes. He was gazing at William as if he was a priceless treasure, a guardian from Primus himself, and Jazz knew the look well, for it was the same one he had when he looked at his beautiful bonded. He opened his mouth to call something over, only for his jaw to drop. Ironhide glanced over, blinked at his expression, then looked over his own shoulder to see what Jazz was staring at. When he saw it, his own lips parted in disbelief.

Sam and Optimus were making their way over to the small group, both carrying a handful of bags. And Optimus... _wow._

The Prime's earlier outfit had been banished to one of the bags, it seemed. Instead, the Prime was wearing a new pair of black jeans, teamed with a white button-up shirt and black tie. But what truly made the mechs' jaws drop was the dark leather jacket the Prime had also picked up. It was completely not what they were expecting, yet somehow it seemed to just suit the Prime, much like his holo-form. Epps sat up and let out a low whistle, causing the Prime to roll his eyes in response as he fell into one of the chairs, which was huddled together in an empty space in the Mall. Sam fell into one beside him, racking his eyes over Ironhide's dark blue shirt and jeans and Jazz's dark red hoodie and cargo pants with approval. Judging by the various bags pilled at the holos' feet, it seemed that like with Optimus, the humans had managed to help the bots find a wardrobe or two.

"Where's Miles and-"

"-Speak of the devil."

True to form, Bumblebee was dressed in yellow and black, from head to toe. He had changed into a pair of black slacks and a sunshine-yellow shirt with a few black stripes, and again, the bot was wearing something was not what the waiters were expecting, yet somehow it seemed to just suit the scout very well. Over his shirt he had a long dark trench-coat, with yellow highlights around the collar and sleeves. Both teens were chatting brightly, flashing smiles at the others as they dropped into the remaining seats.

Meanwhile, Mikaela was adding the finishing touches to Hound's last outfit. The Autobot, on Mikaela's orders, had put on one of the slim-fitting white shirts that seemed so popular, with a dark green button-up shirt, left unbuttoned and with the sleeves rolled up, thrown over the top of it. Also at her urging, he had relented to the dark brown pants and cowboy boots the girl had insisted on. Mikaela frowned, her arms crossed and absentmindedly chewing on the corner of her mouth as she regarded Hound. Something was missing. Stepping out of the dressing room with a command for Hound to "Stay", she scanned the various items on display, lips curving into a grin when she found it. Darting back into the dressing room, she placed the creamy-coloured cowboy hat with a brown trim on to the Autobot's dark brown hair.

"Perfect!"

Hound glanced at himself, nodding slightly. He then turned back to Mikaela and hooked his thumbs in the belt loops of his pants, gazing up at her from under the rim of the hat.

"Thank-you, miss."

"'Miss? You sound like you're from the south!"

"Every planet had a south, miss. Thank-you for helping me out. How may I repay you?"

Mikaela laughed, shaking her head. "Hound, you let me dress you up like a Barbie all day, thank _you!"_

"At least let me buy you lunch sometime, miss."

"You asking me out on a date, Hound?" Mikaela meant it as a joke, but that didn't stop her heart going  _pitter-patter_  when a slow, easy grin slid onto Hound's face.

"If you'd like, miss."

The teen ducked her head, letting her hair shield her flaming cheeks. "Sure. Next Saturday sound okay?"

Hound flashed her another gleaming grin. "Sounds mighty perfect, miss."

* * *

"Close your eyes."

Optimus eyed the red-head warily, causing the walking-backwards teen to roll his eyes. "Come on, Optimus, trust me. Close 'em."

Sighing, the Prime did so. "Open your mouth."

"Wha-"

Optimus's eyes shot open as he stared at the grinning teen. He swallowed, lips tracing the taste that still lingered on his lips.

"What in the name of Primus was  _that?!_ "

"That, my dear Optimus, was the ambrosia of the Gods, the most delicious substance on this fine planet, otherwise known as chocolate."

"Chocolate?"

"Yup."

When Mikaela and Hound had finally shown up (and were unable to hide their slight blushes from either Optimus or Sam), the small group had decided it was time to head back to base, only stopping at a small sweet stand set up in the middle of the Mall. The humans had all but demanded it when they realised that, despite having tasted various drinks, none of the Autobots had had any sort of food to try yet, and thus it was unanimously decided by the humans that they _had_  to try sugar first.

William was feeding pieces of candy floss to the becoming-addicted Ironhide, while Mikaela and Hound where sharing a mix-up (the girl taking huge delight at the mech's face each time he tried a sour sweet). Jazz had tried a piece of chocolate, then practically bought the entire stall so he could take it home to Prowl, prompting Optimus to momentarily forget his own growing addiction to the 'ambrosia of the Gods' and purchase some confectionary for the other back at base. Epps was tearing through a bag of fudge, while Sam was simply content with a bag of Skittles. Hearing a sudden burst of laughter, Sam glanced over at Miles and Bumblebee. The scout had struck out and bought an ice-cream instead, and currently had pink strawberry ice-cream on the tip of his nose.

"You idiot!"

"It's not my fault it tastes so delicious!"

"Here, let me."

Sam gaped as Miles brushed the pad of his thumb across the tip of Bee's nose, stealing away the pink. The two blondes stared at eachother for a second, before both quickly turning away while blushing furiously, Miles's cheeks turning dusty-red and the tips of Bee's ear turning the faintest shade of blue. Flicking his eyes over to Mikaela and Jazz, it was clear that he wasn't the only one who had noticed as he grinned back at the other two. Shaking his head, he glanced at the message that came through on his phone.

**Meet me at mine at 2?**

* * *

Fingertips trailed down Sam's side, a hot mouth closed over his. His hands twisted the fabric of the other's shirt as he let out a soft gasp. The other's mouth dragged away and curled into a smirk as it grazed his cheek, then started drifting down his neck, fingers searching lower and lower. Sam squirmed slightly, feeling vaguely uncomfortable as Mathew pressed him down into the couch, trapping him. The copper-haired teen tried to force down the horrible feeling of claustrophobia as Mathew's hand trailed across the waistband of his jeans. Blue eyes shot open, wide and panicked, their owner feeling like the situation was spiralling completely out of control.

"Matt...Mathew, stop..."

Mathew flicked open the button of his jeans, ignoring Sam's struggles. "Come on, baby...It'll be fine..."

"Mathew...no...I said... _no!"_

Sam suddenly jerked out from under the larger body, skidded across the table that sat in front of the couch and was pressed against the far wall in a blink, sliding down it with the heels of his hands pressed against his eyes. Dimly, he heard Mathew curse him, but he ignored it, trying to calm his frantic, terrified heart and stop the memory from overwhelming him.

_Fault Line drew closer and closer and eyes almost glowing, Jason completely dead by now, lost with Ivy. A hand trailed across Sam's bloodied face and down his side, Fault Line's lips at his ear._

" _You_ _ **will**_ _be mine."_

Fault Line's twisted promise still haunted the teen. Though he'd never managed to follow through with his threat, Sam was all-too aware of what could await him, should S-7 get their hands on him again. After a few minutes, he managed to pull himself under control and meet Mathew's disapproving eyes.

"What the fuck, Sam? I thought you'd got past this shit?"

"Yeah, well so had I!"

"Well, get you shit together! I swear, you're such a fucking tease, you do it on purpose!"

" _Excuse me?!"_

"Don't act to damn innocent; you act so fucking pure when we  _both_  know you just want a fuck!"

"You don't know  _shit,_  Mathew."

Mathew muttered something under his breath and pushed himself to his feet, disappearing into his bedroom and leaving Sam on the floor. After a few minutes, he re-entered with a small, cigarette-like object hanging from the corner of his mouth and slumped back down onto the faded green couch. Still not looking at Sam, he pulled a lighter from his pocket, lit the paper quickly, and after a few minutes the tension in his shoulders started to drain. Mathew finally glanced over at Sam, and then stretched out his hand, across the table, another one twirled through his fingers.

"Want one?"

Sam's head started to lighten, ever so slightly. He stared at it for a second, eyes narrowing slightly. ' _Go on,'_ his mind whispered teasingly to him, ' _It's just_ _ **one**_ _joint...no big deal...Matt's here, it's not like anything is going to go wrong...go on...'_

Very slowly, he stretched out his hand until his fingers just brushed the paper, then...

" _Please, Sam! Please, let us help you! I don't want to lose you, please! You_ _ **promised**_ _!"_

Sam jerked back; inhaling sharply as the sound of Mikaela's tear-filled voice filled his head.  _What was he_ _ **doing**_ _?_

Sam's jaw tightened and he closed his eyes before answering. "No. I  _told_  you, Matt, I'm clean. I don't want any more of that shit."

Mathew rolled his eyes, flicking his hair from his eyes. "I swear, Sam, you're so fucking over-dramatic."

"I'm sick of having the same argument with you over and over again! I'm clean over a year now, and I'm  _staying_  clean!"

"So you OD once, big fucking deal."

Sam pushed himself off the ground and leaned against the wall, arms crossed tightly over his chest and trying to ignore the slight pain at the callous remark.

"Yeah, and I nearly fucking died, remember? Wait, no, you wouldn't, cause it's not like you checked-up on me!"

"I called you!"

" _Once!_ I nearly fucking  _died,_  Mathew, and the first thing you said to me the next time we met was 'how much of an idiot I was' and 'did I want to go get a drink?!'"

"I can't believe you're still so fucking pissed about that! I'm the one who should be fucking pissed; your bastard of a brother nearly broke my fucking nose!"

Suddenly, Mathew realised he had gone too far. It was one thing to insult Sam; it was another thing entirely to insult his brother or sister. His eyes faded from a burning blue flame to shards of ice and his lips pressed into a thin line. Stiffly, the younger teen pushed himself away from the wall and crossed the room, grabbed his jacket and left, slamming the door behind him. Immediately, he stumbled forward and gripped the railing, blissfully happy that Mathew's flat was directly opposite the stairs, and took a few deep breaths of untainted air, swaying slightly. When he managed to clear the fuzziness in his head, he quickly sped down two flights of stairs and out into the sunlight. Slipping onto his bike, he ignored Mathew's calls from his balcony and tore off, weaving into the traffic easily.

* * *

Sighing deeply, Sam pushed open the door to the Rec Room and slipped in, smiling slightly at the peaceful scene that met his eyes. Johnson was chatting animatedly to Wheeljack, hazel eyes shining as he listened intently to whatever Wheeljack was excitedly explaining, pausing every few moments to help Swiftwing understand a new word in the book she was reading. As Sam moved past, his eyes lingered slightly on the three sitting beside the two. Ratchet, Miles and Mikaela were conversing seriously, Chatter snoozing peacefully on Mikaela's knee and Sonic on Miles', so Sam skipped past them, not wanting to interrupt. Devlin, Epps and O'Neill were not in view, but, from the random shouting that was coming from the TV Room, it seemed that either football or hockey had stolen the three's attention and, if Sam listened closely enough, he could hear Megabite cheer with them. A faint grin touched the teen's lips at the thought of another sparkling being so relaxed.

"Sam!"

Sam spun, a smile touching his lips as Quickfire came bouncing over and wrapped her arms around his waist. Easily lifting her, Sam hugged the 'four-year-old' back, pressing his forehead against her helm.

"What are you doing, kiddo?" He asked with a trace of laughter in his voice. Quickfire giggled back, winking her optics. "Playing hide-and-go-seek! Sony's it!"

Sam nodded, setting Quickfire back on her pedes, a slight crinkle in his forehead. "Where is Dew and Digi?"

"They're with Uncle Jazz and Uncle Prowl! And Uncle Opt'mus is at some boring meeting with Uncle Ironhide and Will, and-"

Sam's smile grew wider as he listened to Quickfire listing off the whereabouts of practically every Ally, Sparkling and Autobot, trying not to laugh at her adorable way of mispronouncing 'Optimus'.

After a few moments, she seemed to realise she was wasting precious time to find somewhere to hide and darted off with a giggle. Laughing slightly, Sam glanced up, starting when he saw Barricade wave him over. He made his way over and easily sat down next to the Ex-con.

"Hey, Cade."

"Hello, Sam"

Sam glanced back at the mech, frowning a little at the way he bit his lip and twisted his hands slightly.

"Cade? Something wrong?"

"No. I-I just-"

"What?"

Barricade turned in the seat to face Sam dead on, and Sam couldn't deny the fact that his slowly melting heart twisted slightly at the look of raw anguish on his face.

"I will never be able to thank you enough-"

"-Enough, Barricade. You don't need to thank me-"

"-But, my son. You saved his life, how can I ever even begin to repay you-"

"Barricade!" Sam gently placed his hands over the shaking Neutral's. "You do not need to-"

"-But-!"

"Look, you want to repay me?" Barricade nodded his head quickly, violet eyes wide. "Then  _promise_  me you will be the absolute best Carrier every to be sparked to that little mech, alright?"

Lips parted in disbelief, Barricade nodded numbly. Sam winked at him, and then quickly shifted the conversation topic.

"So, how you finding earth?"

Barricade stared at the teen for a moment, searching his eyes for...something. Deception, anger, even manipulation, but Sam's eyes were clear, truly meaning his word and slowly, Barricade started to smile.

After a few minutes, the two were jerked out of their conversation when Mikaela let out a high-pitched squeal. Chatter blinked sleepily and glared up at the teen blearily. Mikaela kissed him helm in apology and carefully handed him over to the shell-shocked Miles and launched herself forward, hugging Ratchet tightly. The three rose to their feet, Miles placing the Sparklings down on the couch and hugging Ratchet himself, eyes shining. Sam and Barricade glanced at eachother bemusedly, both blinking when Mikaela practically teleported over to Sam. The other teen stood up, only to be nearly knocked down again when Mikaela threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly, still squealing excitedly. Sam hugged her back, throwing a confused glance at Ratchet and Miles. The blonde grinned back at Sam, practically bouncing.

"Ratchet is going to take me and 'Kaela on as apprentices!"

Pride and delight bloomed to life in Sam's eyes as he hugged Miles, and then shook Ratchet's hand, smiling warmly.

"Guys, that's absolutely fantastic!"

Whatever they were going to say next was cut off as James rushed through Rec Room door, panic clear on his face and an angry voice drifting out of the phone in his hand. Optimus, Bumblebee, Prowl and Jazz followed in holo-form, each with similar looks of confusion on their faces. James glanced around the room quickly, then his eyes landed on his victim.

"Sam!"

Automatically, Sam caught the thing James threw to him, blinking down at the cell phone.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Ann-Marie wants to talk to you!"

"Anna? Why?"

"I...may have forgotten to pass on a message for you guys..."

Miles glanced down at the phone, then horror burst in his eyes. "You didn't tell her we quit?! We asked you to pass on the message almost a month ago!"

"Yeah...well..."

"Well, I'm not answering it!"

Sam suddenly tossed the phone to Miles, who glared at his brother. "I don't want it either!"

Glancing around, his eyes locked on the target that was trying to edge out of the room. "'Kaela!"

The moment the phone touched Mikaela's hand, she tossed it away as if it had burned her, throwing it back to James. The phone was passed between the four teens until it was becoming a blur flying around the room. The Autobots followed its path; heads snapping from side to side like they were following a tennis match, trying to make out the faint shrieking that was coming from the phone. After a few minutes, it suddenly went silent. Sam glanced down at it warily, a twinge of worry striking through him at the lack of Ann-Marie's voice. The forty-year-old brunette didn't go quiet for no good reason. Hesitantly, he brought it to his ear.

"Anna?"

Sam wasn't the only one who flinched Ann-Marie suddenly started ranting down the phone again. Glaring at the other teens, he winced every now and then, holding the phone away from his ear as he replied to her relentless questioning.

"Yeah...no...no...I know...yes...but-...yeah, but-...I don't...no...no...Alright."

Sam cut the call and tossed the phone back to James, who was trying to shrink from the glare he was receiving. The messy-haired teen growled under his breath as he turned to his brother and sister.

"We have to get down there, _now_."


	28. Dancing On The Knife's Edge

"Come on, you're not even trying!"

"You fight like my aunt!"

"I fought your aunt, that's a compliment!"

"Point!"

"Pay attention to your opponent, not how great your hair looks!"

"If I'm not going to fight in style, why fight at all?"

"Head in the game, Narcissus."

Lennox blinked. Then blinked again. He rubbed his eyes, then turned to thunderstruck Epps, who was staring at the same thing Lennox was.

"You can see this, right?"

"Yup."

"See what?"

Both Rangers jumped as Optimus, Prowl and Barricade and Bumblebee appeared from behind them, just out of a seeming-endless meeting with the American Government, who suddenly seemed much more willing to co-operate due to the bots' use of holo-forms. As one, they each raised a single eyebrow at the terrible poker-faces the duo were trying their hand at, making them look eerily similar.

" _Sonofabitch!_  That  _hurt_!"

"It's gonna hurt a hell of a lot more if that was an Elite."

"If it was an Elite, I'd be dead and then it wouldn't hurt!"

"Picky, Picky."

"Are they-" Bumblebee stuttered, eyes wide and face pale, "-Are they practicing hand-to-hand,  _on the roof?!"_

"...Maybe?"

The tiny part of Will which wasn't freaking out at how close they were to the edge of the roof of the hanger and screaming, ' _oh-my-God-he-nearly-fell-off'_  was watching with a sort of detached interest at how white the four holos had gone. Epps turned to Optimus with a slightly pinched expression.

"Can't you tell them to get down?"

"And distract them?" Yep, there was definitely a note of panic in Optimus's voice.

"...Good point..." the Sergeant concurred.

"Come on, Miles! You're dropping your guard!"

"I'm  _tired!"_

" _Bullshit!_  We've barely been at this for an hour!"

"Okay, I'm  _bored!"_

 _"_ You wanna try something else? Alright."

As one, the five watchers on the ground lurched forward as Sam reached back and pulled two long blades seemingly out of nowhere and handed one to Miles. The sunlight glinted off the blade, winking at the worriers.

"Oh  _hell_  yeah!"

"...Three..."

"..Two..."

"...One..."

"Mark!" The two teens called out together, and Optimus was sure his spark stopped pulsing. They danced around one another, swiping ruthlessly, and eyes shining. If there was any doubt that these two innocent-looking teenagers were not a danger to those who dared threaten their family, it was gone. They were dangerous, and deadly and beyond beautiful as they performed the ancient dance. In the back of his mind, Optimus noted that a few others had been drawn outside at the sounds of clashing swords, Ratchet easily distinguishable by the sound of his spluttering. The two Elites' eyes were drawn downwards, and then flicked back to each others just as fast. Together, a slow smirk slid on each face and as one, they nodded and picked up the pace. Ironhide slid up beside Will and Optimus, drifting a hand across Will's back as he stood beside his Prime. He nodded up at the two.

"They're good."

"They're  _really_  good." Optimus agreed.

Ironhide nodded directly at Sam. "He's holding back."

Again, Optimus found himself absentmindedly nodding. Sam's movements were too controlled, too stiff to be his full-force. This wasn't training for  _him_ , it was training for Miles, a theory that was later consolidated when the older teen started calling out commands.  
"Left foot!

Right!

Guard your right side!

Tighten up your arm, Miles!

No, not  _that_  tight! Loosen up a bit! You stay that tight and you're going to get slashed!"

Slowly, as if Sam's last command had been to them, the watchers started to loosen up themselves. Epps and Jazz even started a small bet on who would come out on top. Slowly, the two boys got faster and faster, almost becoming two blonde-and-red blurs, until Miles was at the edge of the roof, with Sam's _Schiavona_ , a 16th century Renaissance Italian sword which was very popular among Elites, at his throat. The blonde sighed and dropped his arms.

"Alright, you've got me."

Still, Sam did not move. He simply stood patiently, as if waiting for something.

"Sam? Dude, you've got me. I'm dead."

"No, he's not." Ironhide's head turned to look at Optimus. His eyes were bright, narrowed at something even the Weapons Specialist couldn't see. Ironhide's specialty was firepower; Optimus was the professional with the sword work.

"Are you?" Sam's lips curled up at the corners, his eyes twinkled.

"Yes!...No...No, I'm  **not!** "

Miles bent back slightly and, in one quick movement, swiped at Sam's feet, causing the red-head Elite to jump over the sword, pulling his sword away from Miles's throat and thus losing his hold over him.

" _Damn_ straight!  _That's_  what I'm talking about!"

Optimus's lips curled up at the edges as Sam congratulated his brother. Ironhide turned back to Prime, a question on his lips, only to freeze. The younger mech was looking up at Sam with pride in his eyes, and something else. Something that Ironhide had  _never_  seen in his friend's optics before, something burning and dangerous and was strong enough to tear the universe apart. Something that, until Ironhide had met His William, had secretly thought was myth and merely the over-exaggeration of bots infatuated with their partners.

Optimus's spark burned behind his irises, reaching out for its other half, for its mate. The sarcastic, self-sacrificing, brilliantly deadly, genius of a teen was the destined Sparkmate of the self-sacrificing, loyal-to-a-fault, brilliantly deadly, genius of a Prime. A match made by Primus himself. Ironhide flicked his eyes back to Sam, and grinned.

' _This is going to be fun-'_

That cheerful thought broke off when Miles and Sam both froze. Their hands flew to the side of their necks and, as one, their eyes rolled back into their heads and they collapsed over the edge of the roof, plunging towards the earth.

* * *

"Agent Simmons! Have you got anything yet?!"

Simmons glanced up from his computer at the Director, unable to meet his eyes. Even though he  _knew_  that the Director didn't know it was  _him_  who had handed over the information that got them shut-down, he feared if he looked in his eyes, the Director would see the truth. So here he was, acting as if nothing had changed. Even though Sector Seven had  _technically_ been disbanded, the Elites weren't people to bend to an alien's whim. Temporary headquarters, funded by a few higher-uppers who didn't agree with the so-called 'Autobot Alliance', had been set up in New York and every Elite and Alpha still loyal to S7 was now 'underground'. Their main aim, 'The protection of the People of Earth against the NBE danger' had shifted to take second place after 'Find Lightning'.

And so Simmons found himself caught between a rock and a hard place. Because he knew  _exactly_  where Lightning, and thus Blaze, was, due to a very handy tracking device implanted in their necks.

_The helicopter touched down at headquarters. Lightning and Blaze sat still, not moving from their seats. With a snarl under her breath and a smirk hidden beneath, Downpour stood up and grabbed them back the back of their necks. The tiny, almost invisible chips hidden between her fingers sank into the side of each Undesirables' neck, and for once, their high pain-tolerance turned against them. They didn't even register the tiny prick, both unknowing that they now had a tracking device in their necks. The chip was so tiny, it was practically undetectable and only if you_ _**knew** _ _what you were looking for, would you be able to see it._

Agent Simmons and Agent Lightning were the ones who created and controlled the chips. They were the only ones who knew how to work the software and so, with Lightning gone, Agent Simmons was the only one who could find them.

He stared at the screen. Two large red targets. The exact location. If he gave the information over, he would not only be handing over two rouge Elites, but also the whereabouts of the NBEs and most likely the NBTs. He would be hailed as a hero.

The agent closed his eyes, and his fingers darted across the keyboard. The screen went blue, then three words in bright white flared up.

TRACKING DEVICES: TERMINATED

Agent Simmons glanced back up at the Director.

"No idea, sir. The devices have been terminated, Lightning must have found out."

Tom snarled furiously under his breath and stormed out, slamming the door shut behind him. Simmons buried his head in his hands. He had just betrayed Sector Seven.

And it scared him at how right it felt.

* * *

Sam opened his eyes, and found himself staring up at the aristocratic face of Optimus Prime. Neither spoke, both of them were frozen. A tiny voice at the back of his head was screaming at him to figure out what the hell was going on. One minute he and Miles had been training, then there was a burning pain in his neck then...nothing. The next thing he knew, he was cradled in Optimus's arms. And, damn him if it didn't feel like the safest goddamn place in the world. As quickly as it descended, the silence around them broke.

"What the  _hell_ , Prime?"

"How the  **frag**  did you get over there so fast!"

" _ **Bee?!**_ How did you-"

"-Just,  _whoosh!-"_

Carefully, Optimus lowered Sam back onto his feet. The red-head dragged his gaze to find his brother's, and was not in any way surprised to see Bumblebee had also somehow caught Miles as he fell. The scout looked his shell-shocked brother up and down, checking for any injury. When he found none, he spun on his heel and almost fled back to the Main Hanger. Miles stared after him, then shook himself and went to race after him, only to be forcibly stopped by both Ratchet and Barricade. He struggled against them for a moment, but eventually relented, still staring after Bee.

* * *

"I mean, why would he do that? Besides the obvious 'I-Am-An-Autobot-I-Have-To-Save-Every-Human-On-The-Planet-Whether-They-Deserve-It-Or-Not' complex they all seem to have."

Sam tipped his head back, allowing the hot stream of water to slide down his hair and slip off his back. Ratchet had kept both he and Miles locked up in the Med-Bay for almost an hour before he let them go, and that was only due to the fact he literally could find  _nothing_  wrong. One would think that two perfectly healthy patients would have made the Medic happy, instead of causing the mech to want to tear his holo's hair out.

"I don't know, Miles"

Miles was on the ground outside Sam's bathroom, waiting for his brother to finish his shower after their morning training. His hair was still wet, causing his light blue shirt to gain a darker blue collar. When he shook his head in confusion, his hair sent sparkling diamonds of water everywhere.

"It's cause he's like, my best friend, y'know? That's probably why..."

"Mmmhmm" Unseen, Sam rolled his eyes. When Miles got himself into one of these rants, he tended to ask a lot of questions whose answers he didn't need to hear or didn't react to. He ran his finger through his hair, massaging the shampoo through it, tilting his neck to the side.

"What if-"

"Miles, I am saying this for Sam's, your's and my own sanity." Miles turned to look at Mikaela. "Shut up."

The blonde glared at the girl lazing over the sofa. Sam's apartment was the same as the others on the corridor, small yet clean, with two bedrooms (one of which the Elite had turned into a sort of weapons/art/mediation room), a fully functional kitchen, a tidy living area and a small bathroom just big enough for the essentials. For the girl who had never been welcomed in her home, a boy who really had felt more like a lodger than a owner of a house and another who's home had held far too many painful memories of happier times, their new home was a Godsend.

"But-"

"Miles!" Sam stepped out of the bathroom, bringing a faint sent of strawberries and lemons with him, one towel wrapped securely around his waist as he quickly dried off his hair with another. "Just admit it already!"

Miles stared at his brother curiously, shaking his head slightly as if to say, 'Say what?'. Throwing the towel over his shoulder, wincing slightly when his other flared with pain at the movement, Sam grinned at his brother, a stray lock of hair plastered to his forehead and eyes practically sparkling. "You're falling for Bee."

Miles sucked in a huge breath, but didn't release it as the teen slipped past him and ducked into his room. A few minutes later he returned, barefoot and wearing a pair of threading jeans. He grinned at Miles's pale face and the sight of Mikaela actually rolling on the ground with laughter.

"Should we, I don't know, resuscitate him or something?" The giggling girl spluttered out, pointing at her frozen brother. Sam shook his head with a laugh, pulling a chair out from the kitchen table and leaning back. "Nah...Just give him a moment. His little hormone-fuelled brain can't handle too much Bee-ness at once; he's got a one track mind"

He grinned at her, tongue poking out from between his teeth and suddenly Mikaela almost couldn't breathe in shock. Sam was grinning at her, laughing, telling jokes. She was looking at him and really  _seeing_  him, seeing the brilliant teen underneath that shell he had practically always hide behind. It had happened so gradually over the last few months that she almost didn't notice, until it was right there in front of her face. For the first time since they had been re-united when they were fourteen, Sam was... _happy_. Free. Safe.

And she had a bunch of aliens, especially a certain red-and-blue Prime, to thank. Before she could say anything, Miles shook his head like a dog trying to clear water from his ears, and protested, his voice just a tad higher than usual.

"What?!  _ **What?!**_ _ **Who?!**_ "

"Bee." Sam repeated patiently, eyes dancing with mischievousness. "Short for Bumblebee. His holo-form is about, yay high-" He roughly gestured to someone about the same size of himself, "blonde, blue eyes, cute, tends to bounce like a kid high on candy when he's bored and adores strawberry ice-cream. His alt mode is a 2009 Chevrolet Camaro, bright yellow. He's an autonomous robotic organism, AKA Autobot, from the planet Cybertron, and belongs to the faction, 'Autobot'. He's Optimus Prime's most trusted scout and is generally seen as a younger brother to all of High Command and the rest of that inner circle. Sound familiar?"

"No I'm not. I don't like Bee! I don't! I don't, I don't, I-"

Miles trailed off at the sight of Sam and Mikaela's identical, 'You gotta be kidding me' expressions. The blonde buried his head in his arms and groaned loudly, causing the two to laugh again. "Am I really that obvious?"

"Nah, but we know you."

Miles sighed and lifted his head, and both his brother and sister were taken back by the sudden pain and vulnerability on his face. "What do I do?"

The two other teens shared a glance, before Mikaela tilted her head slightly at Sam. The teen nodded and moved over to sit beside his blonde brother, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "What you talking about, Milo?" He asked, voice soft, slipping in the nickname that hadn't been used in years, from before the two had become Elites.

* * *

_The little blonde boy looked up at his with big, bright eyes. He lunged forward, wrapping his arms around the other eight-year-old's waist "Sammy? Is that you?! I missed you!"_

_Lightning stood there, frozen for a second, taken aback by the sudden show of affection. Hesitantly, he hugged the boy back stiffly, unsure how to react. The blonde looked up at him with big eyes, and his bottom lip wobbled. "Sammy? Where am I? I'm-I'm scared."_

_So sudden it almost knocked him backwards, fierce protectiveness rushed through the older boy. He hugged the little boy again, a little less robotically than before. "It's going to be okay, Milo. I'm going to protect you. Everything is going to be okay."_

_The lies dripped off his tongue like honey._

* * *

"I can't-we can't...Sam...You know what they'll do to him if they find out. They'd-Gods, they'd  _hurt_  him and it would be all my fault. And, and we're not even meant to get close! We're not allowed to! Getting close, it makes us weak! We're only meant to have each other...how to I let him in?"

Sam closed his eyes and rested his chin on Miles's head. The blonde clung to him like he was a child again, desperate for answers. With both their eyes shut, neither saw Mikaela's eyes fill with tears.

"We can't let them control us, Milo. They were wrong. We'll always have each other, but now? Milo, now we have so much  _more_. It isn't just you and me anymore. There's us, Kaela, the Sparklings, the Rangers and the Bots. They said getting close would make us weak, but it doesn't. It makes us so much _stronger_. Yeah,  _if_  they find out, Bee will be in danger-"

Miles flinched, and Sam hushed him, running a hand through the blonde's damp hair.

"-But he's already in danger. He's been raised in a war, Milo. He's strong and smart, and  _he_  deserves a say in this too. You can't let them control you, Milo. They may have helped create you, they may think they have a claim to you, but the  _only_  person you belong to is yourself and, if you give him a chance, maybe Bee too."

Miles mumbled a reply, and Sam replied just as softly. Mikaela smiled softly, happy that Sam was able to calm their brother down, and frantically pushing down the implications of what they both had said. What sort of childhood must they have had, to be told to never trust anyone but each other? How hard was it for them to turn their backs on how they had been raised every day?

Sam shifted slightly, the light streaming through the window hitting an odd shaped scar on his stomach, just below his ribs. Mikaela blinked, and bile rose in her throat. That wasn't just a scar.

_They may have helped create you_

It was a defined shape. A thin, raised crescent moon, surround by seven stars. Identical to the piece of cloth they had found in the blackened shell of Sam's family home.

_They may think they have a claim to you_

They had branded him. That's why Agent Simmons's badge had seemed familiar. She had seen it before, probably just a flash of it, and the implications had disturbed her so; she had buried it in the very depths of her mind. Blinking away her tears, she realised that Sam had stopped talking and was smiling softly at Miles, who took a shuddering breath and opened his eyes. He sniffed, and smiled weakly at Sam, who grinned back and ruffled his hair. She blinked the useless tears from her eyes. They made have tried to break him.

 _But the_ only _person you belong to is yourself_

But they had failed. Because her brother was healing and happy and-

"-I hope you threatened him."

"Of course I did. Told him that if he hurt her, not even Doc-Bot would be able to put him back together."

-so  _dead_.

"You did  _ **what**_?" Mikaela screamed, eyes narrowed at her unruffled brother.

"I simply explained to Hound that if he hurt you, Miles and I would-"

"-WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! WHY THE FRACK WOULD YOU DO THAT!"

"Because," Sam didn't raise his voice in the slightest, in fact, he seemed amused, "You are our baby sister and so we have to-"

"I'm older than both of you!"

"We've been classified as adults from before our tenth birthdays, so _mentally_ and _emotionally_  we are indeed older-"

"Shut up,  _Milo"_

"ANYWAY!" Now Sam raised his voice, arching his eyebrow at the childish stand-off going on between the two. "He came to  _me."_

Mikaela's head snapped back to the Elite, her voice much softer than before. "What?"

"He came to me," Sam's face was softer now, with just a touch of grudging respect. "And asked for my permission to court you."

* * *

_"You want to court my baby sister?"_

_Hound nodded, optics bright. They two of them were on the other side of base at Hound's request for privacy. Sam looked straight into the optics of the kneeling mech and crossed his arms._

" _No."_

_Hound vented softly and shuttered his optics. When he re-opened them, they were clear and unwavering._

" _I deeply regret going against your wishes, but neither I nor Mikaela need your permission to do anything. I hold very strong feelings for her and I intend to court her, whether with your goodwill or not. "_

_The nature-loving mech almost jerked back in surprise when the emotionless teen in front of him broke out into a brilliant smile._

" _Good. That's exactly what I wanted to hear. I do warn you though, if you ever hurt her, both Miles and I will make sure_   _not even Doc-Bot would be able to put you back together."_

_Hound blinked, and then smiled softly. "I would rather hand my spark to Starscream than hurt her."_

* * *

Miles sat up straighter, eyes wide. "He followed Elite tradition?"

"No, Cybertronian. They also ask the head of the family for permission. For an ancient elite group hell-bent on wiping them out, we have surprising amount of similar traditions."

"Hmm, weird. I wonder what else is similar between us..."

"Okay!" Mikaela interrupted. "You can muse later! Back on topic: he really said that?" A soft smile and faint blush accompanied the query.

"Yes." The grudging admiration was back. "He seems like a decent mech, Kaela. But so help me, if he puts one servo out of line..." The teen let the growled threat trail-off, ignoring his sister's eye-roll and small huff. Their conversation descended into meaningless chatter until Mikaela realised it was time for her to take over Sparkling Duty with Devlin. She hesitated at the door.

"So...Elites. When they want to court someone, they have to ask the head of the family?"

Miles nodded, his eyes far-away. "Elites are quite...casual with their relationships. The main idea is to spread the so-called 'Elite gene', as, well; we tend to die pretty young."

He ignored her soft flinch.

"So, when an Elite wants to 'settle down', they need to prove to both their partner  _and_  their family that they can provide for their partner and be able to 'consummate' the pledge."

"Pledge?"

"Marriage." Sam explained carefully. "Well, sort of. It's a bit more binding that marriage. When you 'pledge' yourself to someone, you're giving them everything; Mind, Body and Soul. And not just in this life, but all the ones that follow."

"So...if Miles wants to court Bee, he has to like, ask Optimus?"

"Well yeah-"The blonde suddenly went a shocking colour of white. Wide, panicked eyes turned to stare at Sam. The Elite managed to contain his composure for a moment, before doubling over in hysterical laughter. Miles jumped to his feet and stared pacing, muttering things under his breath as Sam desperately tried to catch his breath, tears of laughter sliding down tanned cheeks. Miles suddenly whirled on him, throwing his hands in the air.

"This isn't funny!"

"You-you-you have to ask a Prime, a decorated war-hero, if you c-can court his b-baby brother!" And the teen was set off into hysterics again, clutching his stomach. Mikaela giggled at the betrayed, wounded look on Miles face as she walked out the door. Eventually, both Sam and Miles calmed down and spent most of the morning meditating, breaking for something to eat. Finally, at midday, Miles moved to leave, to take over from Mikaela and Devlin with Law, only to be stopped by Sam's soft call. Curious, he turned and froze.

When he was back at S7, the name 'Lightning' was a legend. Those on the lower levels and even other Elites spoke about him with hero-worship and not a little fear in their voices. They told him about everything he had done. They told him about how he was like fire and ice, burning through the world and those around him. They told him how  _dangerous_  he was. And still, he hadn't believed them. Yes, he knew Sam was amazingly trained. Yes, he had seen how merciless he was with his targets. But the older boy had always been so kind to him, as if he was determined that even though it was too late for him; he'd do anything to keep the blonde safe. He was his older brother, his hero and his protector. He has never done  _anything_  to make the blonde doubt him.

And yet now, Miles looked at him, and finally saw what they had told him. Sam was leaning back in the chair, hair shadowing his eyes. The weak sunlight shone on his chest, making each scar and mark, most normally invisible, shine up a startling silver and his few, normally hidden tattoos deepen to a vivid black. He was absentmindedly twirling his dagger in his hand, cutting faint patterns in the air with it. Then he looked up, glacier eyes freezing Miles in place.

"Don't hurt him."

It was merely a whisper, but Miles heard the command loud and clear. He swallowed, and nodded quickly. Then Lightning unfroze and Sam smiled softly at Miles. Shaking his head a little, the blonde smiled back.

* * *

_Th-thump-Th-thump-Th-thump-Th-thump-Th-thump-Th-thump_

The music was dark and heavy as Miles weaved his way through the club goers, empty bottles teetering dangerously on the stacked tray he held aloft. He carefully leaped up onto the bar and slid across it, flicking his hand in welcome to one of the bar-tenders. Mikaela poured the pink-haired woman another drink, grinning as she did so. Sam leaned over the bar, accepting the tall, tanned man's money and sliding the drink over to him. He stretched, displaying a sliver of tanned skin between the top of his dark jeans and the hem of his black shirt, proudly displaying the name of the bar, ' _Fiddler's Green',_  in metallic green writing.

The three teens worked as one for most of the night, passing bottles and pouring drinks, dancing around each other like they have done since they were fifteen and desperate for money. Miles grinned at one of the regulars, leaning across the bar, only to receive a sharp smack to the back of the head. Anna-Marie glared at him, chocolate eyes narrowed and blonde hair pulled up into a loose bun. After several negations, the three teens agreed to come back and work on her busiest night, Saturdays, for half the pay, mainly because they owed Anna so much and they loved doing it. The club was even busier now, due to it being the second last Saturday of the summer.

"Stop flirtin' an' get workin'!" She instructed in her thick Irish accent, shaking her head at the blonde and moving back behind the bar. The three teenagers had pulled some stunt over the last few months. She loved each of them, and for them to suddenly go missing for two months without so much as a phone call, well, could anyone blame her for slapping each of them around the head with a few menus when they finally showed up? The three other men-one of them was still a boy, really- had stared at her in shock, only to laugh and introduce themselves. Strange names, two of them had. Jazz and Bumblebee? Parents must have been hippies. The other man though, Jonathan Law, he was...interesting. Strong build, grey eyes and short-brown hair...quite different from the forty-year-old's usual catch, but then again, maybe change wasn't so bad?

She was snapped out of her daydream by Mikaela's low groan.

"I can't believe they ratted us out!" she moaned to a man on the other side of the bar. The southerner-looking man smiled, lifted her hand and kissed the back of it.

"I can." Sam dryly remarked, rolling his eyes at Jazz. "What  _I_  can't believe they dragged you away from paperwork." He threw this question to the handsome raven-haired man, who smiled in response, lighting up his entire face.

"Against my will, you should be sure."

"But of course, gods forbid you have a little down-time!"

Anna stared at Sam. She had seen him angry and desperate, exhausted and high, in pain and calm. But she had  _never_  seen him so causal with anyone before. If she didn't know better, she would almost think the two were  _flirting_. Shaking her head, she glanced at the others leaning against the bar. It was a group of about ten men, ranging from the familiar blonde Bumblebee to a strongly built, soldier-type man who had a scar sliding down his eye. And, much to Anna's delight, leaning against the bar was Jonathan. His eyes met hers and he grinned, automatically making her grin back. She pushed away from her hiding place and sauntered over, leaning across the bar. "Hello, soldier."

Jonathon grinned again, causing the blonde's heart to go _pitter-patter_.

* * *

"Are you alright, Sam?" The teen in question's head snapped up from the bottle he was opening. Optimus leaned against the bar, eyes scanning Sam's face. The human glanced at him, and then flicked his eyes over to where two slightly-older teens were dancing at the edge of the dance-floor, directly in Sam's line of sight. Both were dark-haired and dressed just as dark, dancing in a way that would have made others blush. Then, one of them looked straight at Sam, his moss-green eyes vicious as he bent down to nip at his partner's neck.

Optimus's head snapped back around to Sam, but the teen was already gone. Miles was standing in his place and the look of such anger and hatred on his face made him look much older than he was.

"Isn't that-"

"Mathew?" Miles snarled. "Yes. This is how he works. They fight, he goes out and tries to screw some random guy in front of Sam to make him jealous, and Sam, so scared he'll lose him, normally caves. "

"But-"Optimus shook his head. Nothing Miles had just said sounded anything like Sam at all. "Why would he stay with someone who-"

"Why do you think, Optimus?" And now the blonde looked very old and tired, with eyes that should never be on the face of someone so young. "Sam's had everything torn away from him; he can't stand to lose anything else. If he does, it'll just prove, in his mind, how he's not meant to feel safe, or loved. That he deserves all that pain. But he _doesn't!"_

Now he sounded like a child who had argued on point so often that he was tired of repeating himself. Optimus nodded again, his eyes drawn back to the human who had been trusted to cherish a piece of Sam's heart, and instead left it tarnished in the dark. Anger and disgust raged through him, like waves growing higher and higher until they crashed against the sea wall. He turned back to Miles, only to see Sam standing there once more. At once, the waves vanished as he swept his eyes over Sam, his spark angrily demanding he fix the hurt that Sam hid behind his eyes. Suddenly, an idea flashed through his head, and he held his hand out to Sam. The teen looked at it, then back up to the Prime, confusion swirling in the blue pools of his eyes.

Optimus smiled. "Dance with me."

Sam's mouth dropped open. "What? Are you serious? I can't, I-"

"He's trying to make you jealous, correct?" Optimus grinned at Sam's nod. "Let's make him jealous instead."

Sam stared again at the offered hand, then took it.

* * *

Anna shook her head slowly, mouth open, drinking in the sight in front of her. It shouldn't make sense in anyway, yet somehow, it did. Jonathan, who was standing beside her, was just as dumbstruck as he watched the pair on the dance-floor. He knew the Kid was graceful, likely to do with all his training from a young age, and the Prime had always carried the impression of agility, but this was nothing like he expected.

When Sam and Mathew danced together, it was all heat and lust, but nothing else. No sense of safety or trust.

When Mikaela and Sam danced together, it was fun and easy, twisting and twirling and laughing. It was always safe.

It had always enchanted Anna when Sam and Miles danced together. They moved with each other, each knowing the next step the other would take. It was as if they could read each other's mind and see the next step before it was made.

But Sam and Optimus (as Jonathan had called him) dancing together was like nothing she had ever seen before. It wasn't like they could read each other's minds; it was as if they  _were one_. One mind, one soul, split in two bodies. There was no hesitation in their movements, no mistake, and no uncertainty. They danced and weaved around each other, twisting so close together; it looked like they were trying to become the one being their souls begged them to be. Her hand flew to her mouth as she continued to watch, unseen in the shadows. Far too soon, the song ended with Sam being dipped towards the floor and his leg wrapped around the Prime's waist. Slowly, Optimus pulled him back up until they were staring into each other's eyes, Sam's palms flat against the elder's chest and Optimus's arms wrapped around Sam's back in an almost-lover's hold. Their eyes were like fire and ice, burning into each other and never,  _ever_ leaving the other's gaze. The sheer intimacy and passion and gut-wrenching  _fear_  between the two caused Anna's breath to catch in her throat. They stood there, balanced on a knife's edge, both equally blissful and equally terrified of what could happen, should they let themselves fall over that edge. Slowly, and oh-so-regretfully, Optimus slid his eyes shut and rested his forehead against Sam's, causing the younger to shut his own eyes. They stood like that for a few seconds, clinging to each other, and then the raven-haired man's lips moved indecipherably. Sam swallowed, biting his lip and then nodded softly. Very carefully, with no rush or embarrassment, they detangled themselves from each other and disappeared into the mass of moving bodies once more.

* * *

He hadn't meant for it to go that far. He was just  _dancing_  with him, for Primus' sake! He was just going to dance with the human that was turning everything he knew on his head, so the arrogant mortal who thought himself superior to the anonymous saviour would understand the amazing gift he had been given.

Then Sam had looped his arms around his neck and moved against him, and then all that was gone. Everything was gone, except the lithe, beautiful human who seemed to know him better than he knew himself. All he knew was the scorching heat flaring up between them, slim hands mapping him, his own hands mapping  _him_  and the electricity dancing across his holo-form's skin. His spark  _burned_  in his chest, demanding to be one with this human, to claim him and to do it  _now!_

He dipped him down, the human's back arching as he did so, his leg curling tighter around his waist. He held him there for a few seconds, etching his face to his memory banks, how red his lips were, how his dark lashes curled upwards as he looked up at him with half-lidded eyes. Then, ever so slowly, he brought him upright again, wrapping his arms around him like he would do with a lover, (and  _oh_ , how his spark  _burned_  at the word.) He stared into his eyes, noting for the first time that they were not merely blue, but that they also had flecks of silver here and there. He could see the lust and passion and fear, and something else that made his spark both leap and fill with fear, in his eyes, and he knew all those feeling were reflected in his own. He could do it now, bend down slightly and press his lips against the humans, and then they would both be plunged down a road that neither could nor would want to turn back on. A road that led to danger, because if any of their enemies (and Primus knows they had many) ever saw that something else that made his spark both leap and fill with fear in their eyes when they looked at each other, they would use it to tear them apart.

He couldn't do it. Couldn't risk this precious, dangerous, beautiful human being destroyed just to wound him. So he shut his eyes, cutting off his feelings, yet unable to stop himself from resting his forehead against Sam's in need of the comfort he craved. And Sam followed him, as he knew he would, closing his own eyes and pressing his forehead against the Prime's. He stood there for a moment unable to let go and face what he had just turned away from.

But he was a Prime, and he just had the strength to do so.

"I think it worked. He is radiating jealousy."

Sam swallowed and-even though he couldn't see it, he just  _knew_  he had- bit his lip and nodded softly. Then, very slowly, they detangled themselves and walked away, knowing that if they looked back, they would be dooming themselves and each other.

* * *

That night, Optimus's recharge-vids were filled with copper hair and blue eyes and slim hands and a lithe body pressed tantalisingly close.

* * *

That night, Sam's dreams were filled with midnight hair and blue optics and strong servos and a larger body moving in perfect sync with his.

* * *

That night, the growth of a bond that had before only slowly strengthened, leaped forward towards its descent into a spinning freefall that would only end with two halfs, finally, again becoming whole.


	29. Beginning

The Director had been acting strange ever since Lightning was found alive. It was understandably that he would be on edge, (the Elite who had betrayed them all and knew most of Sector Seven's darkest secrets was fighting beside their enemy), but this was extreme. He had become jumpy, more so than ever, would often mutter to himself and was becomingly increasingly more paranoid. And so, Overcast (S7's top hacker) had hacked the system. He scanned through the files quickly, tearing through firewalls with relative ease until he came to the file marked 'Undesirable #0089-Lightning'. Eyes lighting up, and pushing down the old hurt that accompanied the name, he broke the several blocks placed on it. He blinked at the information, leaning in closer, then lurched backwards. Overcast backed away from the computer screen, face stark-white behind his mask. He glanced over at his pledged, who met his gaze with her own horror-filled eyes. He opened his arms and she soundlessly threw herself into them, pressing her unmasked face into his chest.

"He was right. After all this time, he was right."

He ran his fingers through her long blonde hair, staring blankly. Everything they had been told was a lie. Their Unspeakable had been right, after all this time. Everything he had said was true, and they had spat on his face. They had betrayed him in the most grievous manner, and thus, tarnished the honor of their families. Sector Seven ranked third in their loyalty. Before it, it was to their Unspeakable. But even before that, first and foremost, it was to the Witwicky family. Their families had fought alongside the Witwicky's from before records began. And yet, when the youngest and last male heir desperately cried for their help after he had tried to escape Fault Line's clutches, she had turned on her heel and he had slammed his foot into the stomach of the pleading form on the ground. He shuddered at the memory, holding his pledged tighter.

"If that is what he did to his blood, how can he further justify this fight?"

He shook his head mutely and gently placed his hand on her stomach, a sad smile slipping onto his face as the tiny life inside kicked against it. His child wasn't even born yet, and it was already going through training. The Director had them both reading to their child at night, not Dr Seuss or Beatrix Potter, but instruction booklets and fighting techniques. Their little, innocent baby would not even have the fourteen years of innocence they had, but would be going to the small school in the new HQ with the other Elite-born children, learning how to count at 0900 and how to handle knives at 1100.

And he didn't want that for their baby.

They had talked, whispered secrets in the dead of night, about running as far away as possible. Never stopping, never allowing their child to be forced to go through the horrors they had. But the idea of it was merely a dream. Sector Seven owned them, owned their child from the moment it was conceived, and they would never stop looking for them. No-one ever escaped Sector Seven, not really. Those who left could still be called back at any time. Truly, the only ones who had truly escaped were  _them_ , and even they had eventually paid the price.

The door creaked open behind them, causing the two to spin into battle-stances, with him throwing himself in front of his pledged and unborn child. The greying man locked the door tightly, then met his gaze unwaveringly.

"I can get you out."

Dumbstruck, he took the papers from him. They flicked through them, mouths dropping open.

"But...but you told the Director-"

"This family is rotten."

The words that had burned in the revolution from the last organization, the corrupted one which birthed Sector Seven, hit them like a slap.

He glanced back down at the page, then looked up slowly, eyes pleading. "Are you sure? After all we have done to him...it would be more than his right to silence us. How can you possibly thing he would protect us?"

The man smiled sadly, shaking his head. "Because I know him. You're young, you're with child. He would never do anything to endanger a child, and you have seen the error of his ways. He would  _never_  turn away someone in need."

He looked back at his pledged, who was staring up with wide eyes, terrified to hope. Her hand came down to rest over her bump possessively.

"Where is Lightning? Where is our Unspeakable?"

Simmons smiled, and opened his mouth.

* * *

"Do we  _have_  to do this?"

Sam grinned at his brother, pushing a few pieces of cereal around his bowl with his spoon. "Yes."

"But...but I don't wanna!"

"...You're acting like a child."

"I DON'T WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL!"

Mikaela laughed, fixing the straps on her bag. Miles had collapsed to his knees in front of his amused brother, pleading with his Unspeakable. "Please! I beg you! I can't go back there! They...they suck the happiness and youthfulness out of us, Sam! I want to be happy and youthful!"

The teen rolled his eyes and aimed a kick at his brother as he quickly washed the dishes and went to brush his teeth. When he returned, he found his sister leaning against the door with Miles hugging the wall.

"Don't let him take me! I don't want to go back!"

Rolling his eyes, Sam grabbed his bag and the blonde by the collar, dragging him out the door, ignoring his attempts to twist away.

* * *

"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!"

A blonde blur shot past Thomas Johnson, daring past him and lunging behind the sleepy-eyed Bumblebee, using the mech as a shield. Optimus looked up from his coffee, blinking at the odd sight.

"What-"

"Miles." Sam leaned against the doorway casually, arms and ankles crossed. "You are going."

"NEVER!"

Mikaela slid past Sam and Sat on the arm of Hound's chair, causing the mech to smile and place a small kiss on her cheek. Flicking his eyes away from the little interaction, Sam pushed himself away from the door and strode across the room powerfully, each step loaded.

"I promised your aunt that you would get a nice, normal education. So like it or not, you're going to school!"

"Why can't I stay here! We were practically ready for collage when we were twelve, we just do a few exams outside school and hey presto!"

"No, Miles. You are going to school and that is the end of it!"

"NEVER!"

Sam sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his finger and thumb. Under his breath, he snarled something in Italian, none of which sounding too respectful of Miles's parentage. Optimus hid his smile behind his coffee mug, biting his lips to stop a laugh from escaping.

Sam sighed again, then let out a low chuckle. Miles's head snapped up, meeting Sam's eyes warily.

"Sam?"

"Miles? Do you remember that time in Peru-"

The change in the blonde was instantaneous. He snapped up straight and practically leaped around Bumblebee, darting over to the door.

"Come on man, what's taking you so long? We're gonna be late for homeroom! Epps is leaving on a food run right now!"

The blonde disappeared out the door, leaving a highly amused Sam waiting behind. Sideswipe cocked his head slightly, then let out what had to be his first smile from landfall, the lack of his twin and mate pulling tirelessly on his spark causing him to have trouble recharging and leaving him exhausted. "Blackmail. Nice."

Sam shrugged, and dropped into a mock-bow. "I try. Come on Kaela, time to go greet your little fanclub."

The girl's mouth dropped open and Hound's eyebrows shot up. "Fanclub?"

Grinning, the red-head put on a false falsetto, waving his hands about. "'Oh Mikaela, may I carry your bags?' 'Oh Mikaela, you radiate beauty like the sun!' 'My dear goddess, Aphrodite herself was never as-'"

"SAM!"

The teen took off like there was wings on his heels, laughing at his sister's fury. He shouted out a goodbye, daring out the door before the teen caught up to him.

* * *

_**Six long, boring hours later...** _

Miles sank into Bee's passenger seat, grinning at the other blonde. "Hey"

Bumblebee grinned back, ignoring the hint of blue rising in his cheeks. "Hey yourself. How was school?"

Miles shuddered, shaking his head and glaring at the boy flipping through his phone in the back. "It was horrible! Guh, stupid teenagers! It was all 'OHMIGAWD I LURVE YOUR HAIR!' and 'Yeah, I got  _well_  fit this summer!' and 'Look at me in my super short-shorts! I'm totally not being a total whore, because it's not a skirt!'! And then  _Trent_?! Gods! I swear, if he had either hit on or touched Kaela once more,if Sam hadn't punched him,  _I_  would have!"

Bumblebee snapped his head around, and Mikaela had to stop herself from telling to keep his eyes on the road. " _You_  hit him?! Mr Self-control?!"

Sam shrugged, rolling his eyes. "He was being a sexist jerk to my baby sis-"

"I'm older than you-"

"- **baby** sister. And, Miles? You're still a teenager."

"Bull, I haven't had the mentality of a teen since I was twelve!"

"Really? Wanna bet?

"...No"

Bumblebee and Mikaela choked down their giggles at the two's interactions. All four teens started to hum along to one of the songs on Bee's radio, only for Sam to pause as a message came in.

"Guys?"

"Hmmm?"

"Anna wants us to help pick a color for the bar. Bee, can we spin by?"

"Sure."

The Camaro swung around and made its way to the bar, unknowing that two pairs of eyes were watching it.

* * *

_**A few hours later...** _

"Are they asleep?"

Sam nodded, setting the Sparkling-Monitor down on the table. He leaned back in the sofa beside Optimus, watching Devlin, Sideswipe and Barricade playing poker with interest. He scoped up his book and began to read, unknowingly leaning into Optimus's side. The Prime, absorbed in his own book, barely noticed and when Sam unexpectedly shivered, he automatically wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

_'Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the-'_

Sam shivered again, blinking and looking behind him. The door was open. Optimus glanced at him from the corner of his eye, looking up fully at the confused expression on his face.

"Sam?"

"I shut that door."

Optimus glanced backwards, blinking at the door. James looked up from where he was chatting animatedly with Mathews, a bemused expression on his face. "It must have opened with a draft"

Sam shook his head. "Yeah, probably." He leaned back again, rested his head against Optimus's shoulder and started reading again. Optimus looked down at him, his eyes very soft as he abstractedly twirled a lock of copper hair around his finger. He turned back to his book, only looking up again when Sam reluctantly moved to go make tea. The teen looked back at him, then his eyes sharped on something directly behind the Prime. He glanced away almost immediately, unseen by all but Optimus himself. Sam turned so his back was to the room, looking as if he was busying himself with sugar. Covertly, he slid his dagger out from the waistband of his jeans.

_~Optimus?~_

The Prime froze, not allowing himself to react to the shocking Language of Old spilling from the teen's lips. The other Cybertronians also froze, eyes wide. Optimus cleared his throat, but otherwise stayed where he was, pushing down his shock.

_~Yes?~_

_~Don't move.~_

Sam spun and the dagger flew out of his hand, aimed directly at the Prime. Time seemed to slow. Optimus could see the concentration on Sam's face, the fury in his eyes and the gleaming, wicked-sharp point of the dagger. If he wished, he could snap his arm up and snag the dagger mid-air.

 _Don't move_.

The Prime stayed frozen. The dagger grew closer and closer, then just missed his cheek and shoulder by mere centimeters. Then time sped up again as a roar of pain echoed behind him. Optimus threw himself forward twisting around to face the area the shout had come from, the others in the room automatically spinning into defensive positions, only for a red blur to lunge past him.

Sam launched himself over the back of the sofa, colliding with the cloaked man and tackling him to the ground with a snarl. They grappled for a moment, then twisted to their feet. The masked man grabbed the top of his arm from where the dagger had skimmed a deep cut, kicking the stained blade out of the way. Both of them circled each other, their bodies sinking into two low predatory crouches, as taunt as a bow-string. Then the masked man lunged forward.

And, unlike just over a week previous with Miles, Sam did not hold back. He met him half-way, both of them colliding harshly. The two warriors weaved in and out of each other, making sharp slashes and deadly blows. They were snarling and spitting at each other, sounding more Cybertronian than human. The others in the room went to lunge forward, only to be stopped at Blaze's sharp command.

"Do not interfere! Invalidate the challenge and he is automatically granted superiority over Lightning!"

The others turned to him, aghast. Matthews' dark hair made his face shockingly pale "He needs our help!"

The blonde looked back, no trace of familiarity on his face whatsoever. "His will is for you to stay back! Interference will only cost his life and your own!"

The masked man's fist shot out like bolt of lighting and caught Lightning on the jaw. He flew backwards, hitting his head against the wall. The man started towards him, slowly and purposefully. Optimus stepped forward, only to be restrained by Miles's ironclad fist on the back of his shirt.

"Do you yield?"

Lightning's head snapped up, blood from his split lip trickling down his chin. "As long as there is breath in my body, never."

Then, he flipped himself back onto his feet and swung around, his foot catching the man in the chest and sending him reeling back. Lighting's fist shot out, again and again and again, dazing the man and making him drop to his knees. The Undesirable started to move towards him again, lifting his dagger off the ground. Something twitched in the corner of Blaze's eye, then he too lunged forward, grabbing the once-undetected blonde Elite around the waist and yanking her back from where she tried to leaped at his Unspeakable. The blonde in his arms kicked and spat like a wild thing, racking her nails across his bared skin and biting on his arms, trying desperately to reached her pledged. His own knife appeared in his hand and he moved to press the tip into her stomach as a warning, only to go numb at the hard bump there. He spun and slammed her back against the wall, eyes wide.

"You carry life?"

The blonde's face, twisted in fury and panic, softened minutely. Blaze let out a sharp exhale, then turned her so his front was to her back and his knife to her throat. Now that it had moved from her child, the Elite relaxed slightly, but tense eyes stilll on her Unspeakable as he made his way over to her pledged.

"Why are you here? What business brings your travels to this place?"

Lightning's words were rich and cultured, and steeped in tradition. He no longer looked like a slightly-edgy teenager, his entire posture was lifted, making him look and sound as if he was of royal blood. He turned to the frozen others, his face high and regal as he commanded,

"Leave."

It was testimony to how taken aback they all were that they left silently, slipping into the hanger where the various other sat with their guns pointed at the door, ready to burst in at the first hint of trouble. Optimus's bi-pedal mode unfolded and he gestured to Jazz quickly.

"Imagelink."

The silver bot nodded silently and quickly brought up ad image of the Elite kneeling in front of Lightning. He bowed his head slightly and almost whispered,

"We plea for sanctuary."

Lighting visibly recoiled and Blaze let out a poisonous hiss. Many watching took a steo towards the door, only to pull back. For them to interfere with what was clearly Sector Seven tradition would be like the humans interfering with their customs. One wrong move could end in bloodshed.

"Sanctuary? You _dare_  ask  _me_  for  _ **s** **anctuary**?!"_

 _"_ My Liege, please. I  _ **beg**_  you-"

"Beg?  **Beg?!**  How  _dare_  you! How dare you ask  _me_  for such a thing! When I came to you, pleading safe haven, you sent me back to my tormentors with a knife in my side and a curse on my name!"

Midnight twisted in Blaze's arms. "My Liege,  _please_  hear out our case! We had not idea of the wrongdoing being done to you-"

" _Folly_! Did you not see my injuries and agony, not hear my screams as I was dragged away?! You may had not been told directly, but it was right in front of you like the pages of a book!"

Each word that was spilling from the teen's lips as if he could not contain them any longer, was stab though Optimus's spark.

Midnight was almost sobbing now. "My Liege, I beg you! If sanctuary is not what can be granted, at least make it as though we have departed into the Other Plains!"

Some of Lightning's anger abated slightly as he looked at them, from left to right. "Why? Why now do you seek forgiveness and aid?"

Overcast looked up at him with sorrowful black eyes. "Our child."

Lightning's head snapped back to Midnight, who drew away her cloak slightly so the Unspeakable could see the slight bump there. "Our child is already being raised in a now-pointless war." He voice was soft and thick with pain, "It will be taken from us and its innocence will be stolen. All of us, you and Blaze especially, know what it was like to be raised as soldiers. We do not want that for out child."

Lighting's head moved from left to right quickly, and for the first time, his grip on his dagger wavered.

"Blaze. My sword."

His Partner nodded, waiting for Lightning to take his place before disappearing. He returned seconds later, re-taking his position. The Unspeakable carefully drew his fingers across the blade, before twirling in quickly and laying it to rest against Overcast's throat. The Elite shut his eyes and Midnight let loose a horrific wail. The ones watching suddenly found it hard the breathe as they stared into Lightning's unforgiving face. He pressed the blade into Overcast's neck until a thin line of blood appeared.

"You betrayed your Unspeakable. You betrayed your family's honor. It is more within my right to end you here and now. However-"

Midnight stopped struggling and Overcast's eyes shot open. Lightning suddenly pulled the sword back and sliced it across his own hand. He quickly knelt and took Overcast's, making the same long and thin cut. He closed both the hands together in an almost handshake, one of his arms gripping Overcast's elbow.

"-You will collect your things from where you have hidden them and be back here for 0600 tomorrow. You will be stripped of rank until you have proven yourself worthy. And if you  _ever_  betray the beings on this base, I will cut your heart from its chest, understood?"

Overcast nodded numbly, eyes not leaving Lighting's.

"Swear it."

"I swear in on the blood of my ancestors."

Lightning nodded as rose to his feet. Overcast quickly moved to Midnight's side, wrapping an arm around her waist. Lightning moved until he was directly in front of Midnight, where he then sank back onto one knee. He carefully pushed her top up slightly, just so her bump was revealed. Then, using his still bloodied finger, he gently traced a strange twisting shape on it. Both the to-be parents grasped loudly, and Midnight's eyes filled with tears as Lighting spoke.

"I swear to you and to the Gods that judge us, that from this moment until my last breath leaves my body, this child will have my blessing and protection against all harm."

She brushed away her tears. "Thankyou."

Then, like a pair of ghosts, the two now-also-Ex-Elites seemed to vanish into thin air. Lighting stood where he was for a moment, then glanced up at the camera.

"So I guess you're all very confused."

* * *

The security system was a joke to hack. One would have thought that a building that was created solely for the young and defenseless would have had better security...

The young and defenseless, innocents unable to protect themselves, whose only crime was studying alongside his target.

It rose up in him, his deep, primal urge to protect the young, fury and disgust swirling through him. His angular features were torn, half in excitement and half in agony. Each iris was split right down the middle, one half vivid, mocking red, the other soft, tortured violet. The two colors looked like they were at war with each other, each trying to consume their foe. The violet put up a desperate fight, but was eventually devoured by the other. He blinked twice, then smirked. Under the emergency lights inside the corridor, his hair had a strange red tint. Full lips pulled into a cruel smirk, and the holo let out a chilling laugh and twisted the door handle.

* * *

He straddled his waist, pinning his hands above his head. Grinning down at the shirtless teen beneth him, he began kissing the side of his neck, laughing at his muffled curse in reply. He gripped both wrists with one hand and traced the lean male's tattoos with the other. The blonde strighted up and leaned over, his hand reaching out to grab something off the bedside table, only to freeze at the photo encased in frame standing there. He let his eyes roam over it, taking in the image of two smiling teens locked in a happy embrace.

"Who's that?"

The teen beneath him stretched an arm out and slammed the photo down. The blonde's brown eyes met mossy green.

"No-one", Mathew breathed. "Now, where were we?"


	30. An Angel In The Dark

"Aright. How much do you know, exactly?"

For once, all of the Autobots and their Allies were in the TV Room, squashed up beside each other on the chairs and sofas. Miles was the one who spoke, leaning forward in his chair, his hands tightly clasped as he stared at the ground. Slightly unsure whether or not it would help, Bumblebee placed a hand on his shoulder and was rewarded with a crooked smile. Optimus himself shifted slightly forward as he answered, relaying the information flatly, with no indication of his personal feelings on the matter.

"There are four levels within Sector Seven, with Elites being the highest. Elites are the best of the generation. They're taken at the age of fourteen and trained extensively. When they finish their training, they fight in the various wars going on around the planet. Their main cause is the 'protection from the peoples of earth from the NBE threat'. Only two people have every fought the system, and that was both of you."

Though he answered Miles, his eyes were on Sam. The teen was leaning against the wall and staring out of the window, into the darkness outside. He was tense and wary; his eyes very far away and once again somehow looked far too old for his age. When he heard the information the Prime had relayed, he shut his eyes and shook his head slightly. Miles leaned back in his chair, locking his hands behind his head.

"Fuck."

"I take it there's more?"

"Yeah," He answered Ironhide, sighing tiredly, "A hell of a lot more." He turned around to meet Sam's guarded eyes, and after a few seconds the other teen pushed himself off the wall and made his way over, sitting on the arm of Miles's chair. He sighed, then started speaking, voice flowing like when a mother told her child a bedtime story.

"There are twelve levels within Sector Seven, but they are grouped into quarters. Within the 'Elite' block, the levels are divided in four ranks. Charlie, the fourth rank. Consistently 100 men strong. Their skill level is equivalent to those in the Secret Service. Beta, third rank. Consistently 60 men strong. Their skill level is equivalent to the Rangers. Miles has held this position since he had seen ten Springs."

The Rangers is the group turned to stare, opened-mouthed at the blonde. He glanced away in uncharacteristic embarrassment.

"Alpha, second rank. Consistently 40 men strong. Skill equivalent to Special Forces. Members of this group will tend to be those whose families have fought with Sector Seven since the beginning, and with the Witwickys before that. "

If Sam's tone had been plain before, it was now completely emotionless.

"Finally, ranking above them is the Unspeakables. A Charlie is the best of the generation. Betas are the best of the Charlies and Alphas are the best of the Betas. An Unspeakable is an Alpha that is beyond the standard, and there are only ever four of them at any one time. The  _only_  person they take orders from is the Director, who is replaced by one of the Unspeakable when he falls. Each Unspeakable has command over a group in the lower ranks. The lower ranks are split into four, with 25 Charlies, 15 Betas and 10 Alphas in each group, so each Unspeakable rules over 50 men. The men in each group answer, first and foremost, to their Unspeakable, then to the other three Unspeakables."

"You were one." Optimus's words were not accusatory, merely a statement of fact. Sam looked back at him with those old, searing eyes and nodded.

"When an Unspeakable falls, they are required to name a successor who will take their place. My cousin, Esmeralda, was one. When she fell, she passed what was left of her men to me. I had seen ten Springs when I advanced in rank."

"And still holds the honour of the Unspeakable to see the fewest Springs."

"That information is irrelevant, Blaze." Sam replied, eyes still not moving from Optimus's. "I will not lie to you, Optimus Prime. I was once an Unspeakable. I thought like one, acted like one and believed like one. I will no longer hide that part of myself, and therefore will no longer hide any information relating to them."

"Why now?" The Prime pressed. The others in the room sat back slightly, willing to just let what was coming play out. "Why have you waited almost three months?"

"I had to make sure my trust in you was sincere."

"You told us about the Sparklings after two weeks."

"I trusted you with information of your own kind, not of mine. You needed my entire trust for that."

"It took three months for me to have your trust?"  
"It took Fault Line six."

"Why do you need my  _full_  trust?"

"Elites do not do things by half, Prime of Cybertron. We do not dislike, we hate with every cell in our body and do not rest until the thing that inspires our hate is eradicated. When you have an Elite's trust, they trust you completely. You could stand them at the edge of a cliff, tell them to jump because the rocks at the bottom were mere foam, and they would."

"And what if you like something."

Optimus had no idea why the words came out of his mouth, but as soon as they did, he suddenly found himself on edge for an answer. Sam paused for a moment, then his voice dropped slightly. Both of them leaned forward as the rest of the worlds dropped away, as if it was only the two of them on the tiny blue marble that circled the sun.

"Elites do not like. They love. If they love something, they love it with every cell in their body. If you have an Elite's love, it is not a trivial thing to be taken lightly. If an Elite gives themself to you, you  _own_  them. Their mind is yours to have, their body is yours to take and their heart is yours to hold. Mind, body and heart, they  _belong_  to you and no other, ever. 'Tis a bond that is never broken, neither by time or death. If an Elite loses their other half, they either lose their mind to madness or waste away to nothing as they desperately try to find their love."

"Intense. Seems as strong as bonding." The tiny hitch in Optimus's voice went almost unnoticed.

"When it is rare to see past seven-and-twenty years in our lifestyle, one must make every second count" Sam's eyes were oh so very blue as he looked back at the Prime, the smallest hitch in his own voice.

"Holy shit", Miles murmured, lips parted softly. "I've never seen  _anyone_  able to argue back at him like that."

"I know," Bumblebee replied just as softly, "Me neither. Not even Magus can argue back at Prime like that."

"Prime?" Miles dragged his gaze away from the two, "I was talking about Sam."

Bumblebee stared for a moment, then glanced back at the two. After a minute he chuckled softly.

The sound seemed to drag the two leaders back to reality and they quickly broke eye-contact, the lightest shade of red and blue heating their cheeks. Optimus cleared his throat as he continued.

"Those two Elites that were here, you let them go. Why?"

Sam leaned back again and glanced down at the angry red slice on his palm. "They can be trusted."

"But you said they betrayed you."

"Think of it this way, Prime. Imagine, in your greatest time of need, Jazz and Prowl betrayed you to the Decepticons-"

"HEY!"

"Peace, saboteur. It is merely an example and no reflection on your character. Imagine that, and then later, when you were safe, they had realised the err of their ways. They came crawling back to you, with Jazz begging for you to make it as though they were offline so they could keeping their unborn sparking safe from a war which would take its life too soon. What would you do, in that situation? If you had been in my place, would you have acted another way?"

Despite himself, Optimus smiled slightly. "You make a good argument."

Sam tilted his head in response, lips curling at the sides. "When you are first taught to argue than you are to obey, it certainly becomes force of habit."

"Our most pressing concern, however," Mile interrupted the exchange softly, "is how they found us."

"Perhaps there is someone on the inside?" Barricade ventured from his spot beside Ironhide.

"Yes, but even if so, how could-" Miles's words caught in his throat. He met Sam's eyes, and the Unspeakable let out a strangled curse. He lunged for his dagger sitting on the table beside him and, despite the panicked shouts, dragged it up the side of his throat. Immediately thin fingers delved into the wound and after a blink, he pulled something tiny and metallic out of his neck. Miles mimicked him and both Elites ignored Ratchet as he furiously cleaned the wounds and attached a thick compress to each of them.

"Tracking device. Someone's been tracking us, probably from when we were last at HQ."

"Why haven't our scans picked them up?" Wheeljack demanded. Sam shook his head, eyes focused on the small device. "Too small, I designed them so they would slip by Cybertronian scans unnoticed while being believed to be merely another natural electronic impulse."

"Hold on,  _you_ designed them?"

Sam ignored the other inventor's second question, turning the thing over. "They've been destroyed, both of them. An outside source, a failsafe. But only one with the codes could-"

Sam's words dried up as the image of his almost-uncle bloomed in his mind. He swallowed quickly, adverting his eyes.

"There's someone on the inside, aiding us. They're weaning out those most loyal to me, who regret their earlier decisions, and sending them here, to aid me while keeping this location secret from those who wish harm."

"You won't tell us who it is?" Sideswipe's voice was dull. Sam looked up at him, taking in the drawn expression and exhausted lines. The separation from his mates was literally killing him.

"I cannot, not without putting their safety at risk."

A hand touched each of his knees. Sam jerked as he looked up at Optimus and Devlin, expression quizzed. "Then say no more." The ginger ranger gently commanded. Sam gave a weak smile, the relief and thanks in his eyes speaking for him. After a few minutes of silence, Johnson had to question what had been bugging him since Sam had first spoke.

"What is with that? They way you guys are talking...what's with that?" Johnson asked, navy eyes blinking curiously. Both Miles and Sam started, stared at each other for a second then burst into peals of laughter. At once, the dark atmosphere lifted at the others laughed with the two.

"Sorry," Miles clear his throat, flushing slightly, "Habit, really."

"Habit?" Epps spluttered in astonishment, "It's a habit to talk like someone outta a Shakespeare play?"

"The words we were taught comes not from this age, but from one when the world was younger. The times when we were most at ease was when we in the base of our people, and thus it is plausible that when we are again at ease, we slip into the tongue of old."

"...Holy shit, man!" The two teens grinned at Epps's explosion, grinning like children. Barricade popped his head up at that.

"Speaking of the 'Language of Old', Sam? How long have you been able to speak the Cybertronian version?"

"To be honest, I didn't know I could until Bee spoke it to Al-The Allspark."

Optimus's sharp eyes didn't miss how he change the word half-way nor the grief in his eyes, but filed it away to be examined another date. "So, how is this going to work with these two Elites? Can you be sure they will not betray us?"

"They gave their word." Sam shrugged. "Elites cannot go back on their word. It's against everything they stand for. It's partially the reason they hate me so; they each swore an oath to follow me to the Other Plains-afterlife, so to speak- and my actions caused them to go against that."

"I'm sorry." Optimus's voice had dropped to a whisper. "I'm sorry you were forced to choose between us and your people."

Sam only smiled softly at him, no sign of blame in his expression. "I have never regretted my decision. The means, perhaps, but never the ends."

"I never understood why people say 'I'm sorry' for things beyond their control. That's like saying, 'It rained today, and it's all my fault because I couldn't make it snow'."

Mathews rolled his eyes at the other blonde as he shook his head. "Way to go and spoil the moment, Blondie."

"One thing I don't get though," O'Neill leaned forward with hand in his palm, "is why they kept calling you 'My Liege'? What's with  _that?_ "

The entire group started when Miles burst into peals of laughter while Sam's blush deepened furiously. The Unspeakable dropped his eyes to the ground as tears of mirth fell from his brother's.

"Go on, Sam! Tell 'em!"

"Tell us what?" Will now enquired, eyes sharp on Sam. The teen gave a strange sort of embarrassed laugh as he answered, still not meeting anyone's eyes.

"Well, my family have been around for a few millennia, and very high up the social ladder at that. And sometimes some of my ancestors liked to get a little...frisky with someone very important..."

Understanding dawned on Prowls face and Mikaela's mouth fell open "No way...you're not...?"

"Not first in line!" Sam hastened to assure them, though it didn't really make much difference, "I'm 7th for the English throne and 22nd for the Spanish, so I'm not really..."

"You've got blue blood. Holy shit!"

"Sam most certainly does not, there are no abnormalities in his blood, I checked!"

"Really not the point I was making Doc-bot"

Ignoring Ratchet's rant about the 'Doc-bot' nickname, the others immediately started grilling Sam on what he was in line for. After trying to evade the question several tines, the teen grudgingly gave in and started listing some.

"Belgium...Morocco...Ireland-"

"Ireland doesn't have a royal family" O'Neill broke in, the stories his Irish grandparents had told him as a child fresh in his mind. To his surprise, Sam merely smiled mysteriously and stage-whispered with a wink, "And let's keep everyone thinking that."

As the others digested that information, Sam's phone suddenly vibrated. He quickly read the text, shook his head and slipped the phone back in his pocket.

* * *

The two Elites had arrived exactly at 0600 on Saturday morning and had been stripped of a weapons and communication devices. After and intense FAQ, Sam had immediately started training them in how to fight  _with_  Cybertronians, rather than fighting  _against them_. That had taken up most of the day, and now he was waiting for Mathew's friend to show up at the lake.

It was surprisingly nippy for a Saturday evening in September, Sam mused as he waited. It was only just coming up to five o'clock, so he was still early for his meeting. The teen shivered once, rubbing his hands up and down his arms to try and create some warmth. After waiting for a few more minutes and almost ready to leave, he suddenly felt a presence behind him. He quickly turned on his heel to greet the stranger.

The person looking at him couldn't be any older than the teen himself, eighteen at most. If Sam was honest, he reminded him quite a bit of Bumblebee's holo, messy blonde hair and big, innocent eyes, only his was brown. He shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably, nibbling on his lip. After a few minutes of awkward silence he eventually spoke, his voice very soft and hesitant.

"You're Sam Witwicky, aren't you?"

Sam immediately tensed, crossing his arms and leaning against the tree as he studied the other teen. "Who wants to know?"

"I'm Jasper Williams."

"Aright, Jasper. How did you get my number? Why do you want to speak to me?"

The blonde fidgeted further before answering the second question. "H-How do you know Mathew Cabot?"

Sam tensed further and then pushed himself way from the tree, moving closer to him. "What's it to you?" His voice had grown colder, sharper almost. Jasper refused to meet his eyes, shifting again.  
"Please, just answer my question."

Carefully, Sam answered him. "I've been dating him for the last year and a half, why?"

Jasper made a soft noise, almost like a whimper of pain. Sam's eyebrows furrowed as the blonde reached up to drag his sleeve across his eyes and the soft side of him demanded he comfort the teen. Slowly, he took a few steps closer to him and placed an arm on his shoulder, thrown totally off-guard when Jasper threw his arms around him with a sob. Started, he hesitantly hugged him back, rubbing soothing circles on his back.

"Hey now, it's okay." He whispered too him, patting his back awkwardly. The blonde choked something against his neck, sounded something close to "I'm sorry". As he did so, dread began to pool in the Elite's stomach. "What's wrong? Has something happened to Mathew?"

At his name, the blonde made another choked noise and shook his head, before slowly pulling back, his brown eyes rimmed red. "I'm really, really sorry. I had no idea, honestly."

By now fear was quickly spreading through the Elite. Had something happened to him? Was he hurt? Had he OD-ed again? "Please, what's wrong?"

The blonde closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You've been dating Mathew for a year and a half? I've been dating him for six months."

The rest of the conversation became a dull buzzing noise in Sam's ears as Jasper explained everything. How Mathew had approached him in a bar six months ago, different dates they had went on, how shifty Mathew had become over the last few weeks ( _Gods, how had he not noticed?)._ Then he went on to say how he had been with Mathew last night  _(This is all my fault)_  and had seen Sam's picture by the bed ( _Maybe if I hadn't been so damn scared and just let him-)_ , and when Mathew ignored his question about him, he had went through his phone to see Sam's picture again and the texts they had exchanged ( _Gods, I'm such a stupid, worthless-)._ Things hadn't seemed right and now he knew for sure and he was so sorry and if he had had  _any_  idea Mathew wasn't single he _never_  would have-

Sam went through the motions, nodding and answering quietly until Jasper finally left with one last apology. Finally alone, Sam slowly backed-up until he hit the tree again and slid down it. He pulled his knees to his chest and rested his forehead on them, his throat tight and chest aching. When his eyes burned behind his lids, he bit sharply on his lip until he tasted copper, refusing to show weakness in public. He sat there for what had to be just about half an hour, waiting until he was sure he could move without falling apart, then quickly got to his feet and left.

* * *

"-And then I'll attach tiny wings to the humans and send them flying around the planet-"

" _ **What**_?!" Startled out of his daze, Optimus spun around to meet Wheeljack's amused optics. The inventor was smirking at him, as was Jazz and though Prowl seemed expressionless, his optics also shone with humour. The four were scouting out the area around Base for somewhere to put Wheeljack's lab, so it was both far enough away to minimise the risk of their temporary home being blown sky-high, yet close enough so the bots could get there in a case of emergency. Though, about ten minutes into the actual scouting the other three soon noticed the Prime wasn't quite all-there. He seemed...distracted, for a lack of a better word.

"You alright, Boss Bot?" Jazz grinned at his sheepish expression, smug to have caught the always on-guard Prime out.

"Yes Jazz, I'm just..."He trailed off, shaking his helm slightly. He felt...off. Wrong. Like something was missing, something...important. He didn't notice the smugness drain from Jazz's face or the slightly concerned look the Bot threw at the others.

"I would recommend you go for a drive, Prime. To re-sync your processor."

Distractedly, Optimus nodded at Prowl's suggestion. "Yes, that might be best..." The three Bots shot each other frankly shocked looks that Prime was willing to 'sit-back', "If you would take command-"

"Yes sir." Optimus nodded and transformed, quickly speeding out of the boundaries of the Base, leaving the three bots to stare after him.

"Well...that's new."

"Amen" Jazz replied to Wheeljack. "Then again, Prime has been acting kinda odd since the end of The War."

"True." Prowl replied to his Sparkmate. "He seems less tired...and tense. More...relaxed and open"

"More like Orion than Prime." Wheeljack whispered, a smile slowly starting to stretch across his lips. Jazz slipped and arm around Prowl's shoulders and for once the tactician didn't reprimand him for doing it on-duty.

"It seems like we're getting our brother back. Who knew falling for an organic would cause that big a change?"

Wheeljack's helm snapped around. " _WHAT?!"_

* * *

Optimus's holo-form tapped a distracted beat out on his steering wheel. He pulled up to the parking-lot beside the Lake, recognising it as the place the teens had introduced them to over the summer as their favourite place in Tranquillity. He still felt...off, but it seemed less so now. His spark seemed to stalk angrily in its chamber in the holo-form, detached from his own mindscape, like another being entirely. It had been known to happen to some Cybertronians, but before landing on Earth it had never happened to Optimus's before. It was slightly unsettling to hear his spark 'talk' at him, and even more unsettling, it somehow seemed angry.

' _ **/Wrong, feels wrong. Empty/'**_

' _ **/I know/'**_

' _ **/Why, why wrong?/'**_

' _ **/I don't know/'**_

' _ **/Where is him?/'**_

' _ **/Him?/'**_

' _/_ _Red hair~Blue eyes~Glowing symbols~Tongue-between-teeth grin_ _ **/**_

' _ **/Sam?/'**_

' _ **/Yes!/'**_

' _ **/I don't know/'**_

' _ **/Find!/'**_

' _ **/Why?/'**_

' _ **/Stupid, find! Find find find!/'**_

Optimus shookhis helm (' _head, for Primus sake it's a_ _ **head**_ _in holo'),_  slightly irritated his own spark was insulting him. He sank back into leather seats and closed his eyes slightly. He slowly sank into an almost sleep-like state, and almost fell completely asleep, when it hit him.

' **Hurt** ~'

Optimus jolted upright, glancing around his cabin quickly, eyes flashing. When nothing seemed out of the ordinary, he dismissed the feeling as his imagination and warily sank into the same state again, only to be jolted awake once more.

'~ _ **Liar!**_ _~'_

Inhaling deeply, Optimus snapped his head from left to right. He hadn't imagined that, surely? His spark was torn in his chest, half-eager-half-furious, the sheer intensity of the spilt emotions making his head spin.

' **/** _ **Him! Him feel, him speak , him HURT!/'**_

Optimus slid out of his alt-mode and hit the ground at a run, spark seething dangerously.

' **/** _ **He hurt him, we hurt them!/'**_

He skidded out of the parking lot, running towards the few block of flats not too far from it. He was only guided by the pull of his spark as he darted down the alley, and as he did someone slammed into him.

A red-headed someone.

" _Sam?"_

Sam met his eyes and Orion's spark roared in fury. The teen's eyes were wet and his cheek was bruised and split across the cheekbone, as if someone wearing a ring had punched him. The faint imprint of red around his throat told the Prime someone had grabbed him by it and a quick glance down confirmed that his wrists were red, as if someone had held them tightly.

" _Optimus?_ " It was Sam's tone that did it. While it was shocked, the sheer relief in it cleared the Prime's head.

"Sam, what in the name of-"

Three things seemed to happen simultaneously. A dark haired male appeared around the corner, green eyes burning and his lip split. Not seeing Optimus in his fury, grabbed Sam's arm in a bruising grip and caused him to give a startled cry. And then the man was on the ground and holding his jaw, looking up at a beyond enraged Prime. Mathew scrambled backwards as Optimus stepped forward, his burning expression in the dark alley and the way he was standing protectively in front of a wide-eyed Sam was giving him the impression of an avenging angel. The teen stumbled to his feet, jaw still aching from Optimus's right-hook and sneered at Sam.

"How many time did you spread you legs to get yourself a fucking bodyguard, you-"

He lurched back again when a livid  _snarl_  tore itself from the man's lips and he stepped forward again, only to freeze in place when Sam moved to his side gently placed a hand on his arm. At his touch, some of the tension slipped out of taut way he held himself. He slipped an arm around Sam's waist and pulled him into his side, eyes burning into Sam's now-ex.

"If," Mathew had to hold back a flinch at the rage that still draped the word, "you ever touch, speak to or even so much as  _look_  at him again, I swear you will regret the day you first took breath, understand?"

The teen nodded, as the sharp, unyielding tone the man spoke in left no chance of argument. With one last sneering look at Sam, which caused him to finch and the man to snarl, he turned on his heel and stormed off.

The moment he had, Sam almost went boneless in relief, turning to press himself into Optimus's strong frame. The fury of someone hurting  _ **his**_ Sam was quickly pushed back so he could wrap his arms around him. Thin fingers gripped his shirt as and he pressed a light, innocent kiss on Sam's messy hair, nothing more than a sign of comfort. After a few minutes, Sam leaned back and looked up at Optimus with those big, unsure eyes and Optimus found it hard to speak for a moment.

"Come on," He whispered, slightly hoarsely, "let's get you cleaned up."

Optimus led him back to his alt-mode, arm still around his waist. He and the teen slipped into the sleeper section of his cabin and, when prompted, Sam sat on the edge of the bed there. After a few minutes of rummaging, Optimus joined him with a First Aid kit. There wasn't much Optimus could do for his throat or wrists, but he very gently pressed against Sam's throat to make sure there was no real damage done.

"What happened?" The Prime kept his tone soft and waited until Sam spoke, unwilling to push him. "I broke up with Mathew."

'/ _ **Yes!**_ /'

Pushing down at the uncalled-for elation in his spark, Optimus continued checking Sam's throat. "Why?"

"Turns out he's been cheating on me for about six months."

'/ _ **WHAT?! Stupid human, blind human/'**_

The Prime's lips pressed into a thin line as he searched the kit for some of Ratchet's anti-inflammatory gel. "Then he's an idiotic fool."

Despite himself, Sam smiled slightly and let out a soft laugh, causing Optimus's own lips to twitch. Optimus delicately lifted Sam's wrist and spread the gel over it, the humour fading from his expression. "How did you find out?"

"The guy he was cheating on me with told me. Apparently he didn't know I existed either. So I went to Mathews and confronted him and told him we were through" Sam laughed bitterly. "He completely flipped. Grabbed me by the wrist as I went to leave and pinned me against the wall by my throat, screaming about how he 'owned me'."

It was taking all of the Prime's willpower not to leave Sam's side and go track that  _boy_  down. He had  _ **hurt his**_  Sam. He thought he  _owned_ _ **his**_ Sam? His spark growled at that and Optimus had the impression that if it had arms, they would be crossed stubbornly.

' _ **/Not his, mine/'**_

' _ **/No, not yours either/'**_

' _ **/MINE!/'**_

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes at his apparently sparkling-spark proved more difficult than he expected. "What did you do?"

"Kneed him in the stomach and split his lip. Then he punched me and I ran."

"You didn't want to hurt him."

Sam let out another bitter laugh, adverting his eyes. "Stupid, huh?"

"No." Sam looked back at him cautiously, "Just more compassion than he deserved."

"What happened to your 'We don't harm humans' rule?" Sam gave a barely-noticeable flinch when Optimus started cleaning the cut on his face with an anti-bacterial wash, causing the Prime to apologise softly before answering.

"There are exceptions to every rule."

' _I am leading a war, Ironhide. I cannot afford to have relationships, not now, not ever.'_

Optimus carefully smoothed a Band-Aid over Sam's cheek, his thumb just lingering there. Now that he was cleaned up, Optimus could see just how tired he looked, emotionally and physically strung-out.

"Get some sleep," it was a whisper as he stood up, "I'll wake you when we get to base."

It was testament to just how exhausted he was that Sam nodded tiredly. He kicked off his shoes, but just as Optimus turned, Sam caught him by the wrist. The Prime turned back, looking down at Sam.

"Thank you, Optimus." The gratitude in his voice was overwhelming. Optimus stood there for a second, at war with himself. Should he? Could he?

' _ **/Tell him! Tell him now!/'**_

Slowly, he knelt down and rested his forehead against Sam's, and was pleasantly surprised that the tension in Sam's frame also left him at the contact.

"Orion. My name is Orion."

Their lips were inches apart from each other and shyly, Sam smiled.

"Thank you, Orion."

* * *

_**School, Monday morning** _

"Dude, are you okay? You've been acting weird all weekend."

Sam looked up from the guitar with a raised eyebrow. The three teens were piled into one of the spare music classrooms for their free period, and his brother and sister had done nothing for ten minutes other than stare at him.

"Weird? Weird how?"

"Happy." Mikaela answered bluntly. "I mean, you found out your boyfriend of eighteen months was cheating on you for six, and yet I've never seen you happier or more sociable. What's with that?"

'" _My name is Orion."'_

"I don't know." Sam shrugged, "I just feel...lighter."

"Okay then..." Miles trailed off as he got up to grab a new string for the bass guitar sitting beside him. He was still talking over his shoulder as he pulled the door of the cupboard open. "Whatever you say-"

He lunged backwards with a cry, grabbing Mikaela's wrist and shouting at Sam. The teen grabbed her other wrist and pulled her, shouldering the door open. He and Miles pulled her out of the classroom and into the hallway, only for heat to explode behind them and for the ceiling to come down in chunks around them.

* * *

As smoke billowed out from the school, emergency services sirens wailed and the faint sound of children screaming met his audios, lips turned up in a mockery of a smile.

' _Target:'_ Starscream smirked, ' _Terminated.'_


	31. New Years Day

"You know, I do like these Holo-forms" Wheeljack grinned over at Jazz. "I can do all the fiddly work!"

He grinned at him again, wiggling his fingers. Jazz shook his head with a laugh at the child-like joy on the inventor's face, flicking the radio channel over to the local broadcasting station. Over the weekend, a basic shell of a lab had been put up for Wheeljack and now the two were just fixing the wiring, much to the inventor's delight.

_"Say goodbye, as we dance with the devil tonight. Don't you dare look at him in the eye, as we dance with the devil toni-"_

_"-Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry to inform you that a bomb has gone off in Tranquility High School. Emergency services are on scene and there are an unconfirmed number of injuries and deaths. Police are asking for only parents, guardians and spouses of staff to arrive on-scene and to form an orderly line upon-arrival-"_

"Hey, Jazz? Tranquillity High School, isn't that the school the three-" Wheeljack turned to ask the future-generator, only to see a few stripped wires aimlessly drifting back and forth.

* * *

Will grinned down at Ironhide as he straddled him, slowly trailing his fingers up the toned chest. The Warrior bit his lip, a groan building in his throat. Will cocked his head to the side as he lightly grazed the smooth circler metal plate in the centre of his chest, grinning when the mech let out another strangled cry.

"And this is?"

"S-Spark...Cham-chamber. Holds fraction of my spark to power h- _HOLO_ "

The Captain slid his finger teasing down the invisible seam, which split open immediately, displaying the softly pulsing blue orb of light. He gently traced around the edge of the chamber, eyes darkening as Ironhide threw his head back and shuddered. The human leaned down and pressed a kiss against the edge of it, swallowing thickly when the mech beneath him let out a moan. He kissed his way up his neck until he met his lips, Ironhide's hands coming up to cradle his face.

Azure eyes slowly opened to lock with chocolate brown. Ironhide gazed up at Will, lightly tracing his lips with his fingers. Will's eyes flickered shut contentedly as Ironhide continued to trace his features softly. The Warrior wrestled with himself as he gazed up at the beautiful human who had stolen his spark. Could he possibly say it? Could he admit to him, and admit to himself, that the one thing he had sworn to himself never to do had happened?

"Will?"

"Yeah?"

"I-"

"'Hide?"

"I...I love you."

Brown eyes snapped open, roving over the holo's face as he looked for any sign of deception. However, he only saw honesty and a hint of vulnerability in the mech's eyes. Slowly, a breathtaking smile pulled his lips.

"I love you too, 'Hide."

Ironhide stared back uncomprehending for a moment, then mech's face broke out into a blissful smile, pain from vorns of war momentarily vanishing. He shot up and pulled Will back to his lips, kissing him deeply.

"Say it again." If not for the look in his eyes, it would have seemed like a demand. Will placed his hands on either side of his face and darted kisses against his cheeks, nose and forehead, each with a smile and a whisper,  
"I love you"

Ironhide let out a breathless laugh and twisted, pinning Will beneath him and doing likewise.

The door slammed against the wall, pulling the two lovers out of their little slice of paradise. Ironhide dropped, covering Will with his body and letting out a snarl at the intruder, primal programming demanding he protect his mate when he was so bare and conquerable.

Epps threw his hands up, ignoring the mech possessive glare and Will's furious and embarrassed swearing.

"Guys, you gotta move."

"Jesus C _hrist,_  Epps! Don't you know how to knock the damn door-!"

"There's been a bomb at the High-School."

Ironhide froze, as did Will.

"And none of the kids are answering their cells."

A single second of silence, then they lunged from the bed, quickly dressing as Epps ran back out and started banging on Johnson's locked door.

* * *

He stared into the wreak of the school, lip plates set. His target was surely dead, and no other native sparklings were fatally hurt. His mission was a success. But under a metal covering, in the darkest depths of the Seeker's processor, an exhausted figure weakly banged against the walls that kept him caged in his own mind. He clawed at the walls, sobbing spark-brokenly as he watched as his body went against the most basic Seeker Code,  _always protect the sparklings_ , and attacked a building full of them. It had certainly killed the one who had brought Max peace ( _He must be at peace at last, no longer forced to watch himself torture and murder his family, as his friend would have rather off-lined)._ He curled up, rocking back and forth slightly as  _It_  realised he was awake and _It_  decided to have some fun, showing him the world  _(His home)_  that he helped  _burn_  and the innocent Sparklings he had helped slaughter. It seemed to go on for vorns, until something that felt like a gentle servo caressed his helm. He curled into the larger presence, sobbing like a sparkling as it rocked him, gently soothing him and shushing his pleas for off-lining.

"Hush, my love. My Star."

"Fire. Fire, please. Skyfire, make it stop."

"Stay strong, my love. Help will come, I swear."

All too soon, his bonded began slipping away again, back to the place where his shell lay, almost off-line and hidden. Only through the bond could Starscream hear and feel him, and each time he came, he was a little weaker and left a little sooner. Soon, the Seeker knew, Skyfire wouldn't return at all.

"No, 'Fire…'Fire, please-"

With a lingering kiss against his 'forehead', the other scientist faded, leaving Starscream trapped in his own processor again.

Alone.

* * *

"I understand, but we are from the army, we can help-"

"I understand your concern, sir, but you have to stay  _back"_

Will pushed away from the yellow tape with a low snarl, pacing back and forth, subconsiously mimicing Ironhide. Ratchet had disappeared after arriving to help with the terrified children and heal those with a few minor injuries. Optimus had ordered Bumblebee to help the medic, to try and keep the fact that none of the teens were among the evacuated faces off his panic-sick processer. The Prime was standing off to the side with the unsually silent Jazz, staring into the smoke billowing from the school. His shoulders were stiff, arms so tightly crossed that the muscles of the holo-form's arms were straining and nails digging so deeply into his arms they were leaving half-crsent, vivid blue stained marks. Jazz swallowed, then hesitently placed a hand on his shoulder. Slowly he turned, fear and fury burning in his eyes.

If the three kids (' _SamSamSamSam' his spark_   _screamed_ ) had so much as a scratch, there would be P _it_  to pay.

* * *

"-AM! -AM! S-M, Plea-!"

Sam's eyelids flickered and he took a rasping breath, choking on smoke. Mikaela's face swarmed into view, streaked with soot, tears and blood. Sam shot upright, pressing his hand softly against her forehead and drawing away bloody fingertips.

"Just a scratch."

"Well, now I know how irritated you guys feel when I say that."

Blinking the smoke from his eyes, his heart dropped to his stomach when he realised Miles was lying on his side in the recovery position, eyes shut. He looked back at Mikaela, whose bottom lip was trembling.

"He-he hit his head."

He put his hand against his forehead, trying to focus as he furiously as his vison swam. He took a few deep inhales, and then cursed himself for his stupidity as he started choking. Finally he pulled himself to his feet, wincing when his ankle flared with pain, and hopped over to where Miles lay. With his back to Mikaela, he leaned down and muttered something into Miles's ear, and almost immediately he jerked up, sucking in deep lungfuls of air and choking on it.

"Easy," Sam soothed, hand on the blonde's back, "Nice and calm."

Wiping tears caused by the smoke away, Miles glanced around blearily. "'Wazz goin on?"

"Bomb. Fire."

"...Damn"

"Come on." Unsteadily, Sam pulled him to his feet, only to wobble slightly and causing Mikaela to rush forward to grab Miles to stop him from falling too.

"Mikaela, can you help him?"

She nodded, reaching down to throw one of Miles's arms over her shoulders and dragging him upright. Sam limped over to the now smoke concealed corridor, searching for the door. His hand drifted across the door and he smiled when he came in contact with the slightly warm doorknob. He turned it, and all the blood drained from his face.

"Sam?"

He couldn't turn to look her in the eye, to see the fear in them when he told her. "It's locked."

She let out a sort of strangled gasp and despite himself, he did turn, the smoke so thick he could barely see her. He didn't need the increase of temperature to tell him the fire at the far end of the corridor was advancing. All three of them were coughing harshly and Sam would bet everything he had that the others were also feeling light-headed.

He turned back to the door and closed his eyes, centring himself. Blue eyes snapped open at the horrible cracking noise from above their heads.

"Oh God...Sam, the roof!"

He took and unsteady step back, then jumped, slamming his injured foot into the door with a stifled cry. Ignoring Mikaela's refusal, he did it twice more, until the lock finally broke and the door swung open.

" _Come on!"_  He roared, grabbing the dazed-blonde's other arm and dragging them both through the door and into the empty lab room. They were not a moment too soon as the roof fell in almost instantaneously, sealing that exit. The room was deserted and dark, save the sunlight weakly shinning through the windows high up the wall. Gently, Mikaela guided Miles to sit on one of the chairs, glancing around the room warily.

"What do we do now? There are no fire exits and we can't go back."

Sam seemed to be ignoring her, staring at the chair in front of him. Then, without notice, he grabbed it and swung around, throwing all his strength behind the twist and letting the chair fly into one of the large windows above their heads. Mikaela automatically flinched and squealed as the glass rained down onto the benches, a deadly carpet of glitter spreading out. Sam sort-of hopped over to the bench and began clearing the glass off with a sweep of his arm, sending it tinkling to the floor. He met Mikaela's incredulous eyes with a grin.

"What are you waiting for?"

Pushing back her bloodied fringe, she sighed exasperatedly at him as she hauled Miles to his feet again and Sam swung himself up onto the bench. Supporting himself via the wall, he began clearing the window of any remaining glass so they wouldn't cut themselves while getting out.

"How far down is it?"

"Only a couple of feet."

Leaning down again, he hocked his arms under Miles's arms and pulled him up onto the bench, then offered his hand to Mikaela and helped her up.

"Okay, you first."

Not really giving her a chance to argue, Sam basically lifted her by the waist and dropped her out the window, where she landed about 10ft down on the soft grass. After a few choice curse words and a bunch of insults to Miles, Sam managed to push him out the window and into Mikaela's waiting arms.

"OI! That bloody hurt! How much do you freaking weigh?!"

"...I can taste red." Miles concussion was talking for him.

After a few seconds, Sam hauled himself out of the lab and landed lightly on two feet, crumpling when the pain from his ankle hit him.

"M' Fine" He rasped out to Mikaela as she hauled him up. "Come on...I don't want to be here when that lab goes up."

* * *

They were no longer looking for survivors; they were trying to recover bodies.

They were no longer looking for survivors; they were trying to recover bodies.

_They were no longer looking for survivors; they were trying to recover bodies._

Hound was standing at Prime's side, barely restraining himself from running forward. Almost three hours since they had arrived, and nothing had changed. His Mikaela was in there. She was in there, and she could be hurt. His Mikaela was in there, could be hurt  _and he couldn't do anything about it_. Bumblebee had arrived to stand at Prime's other side after it became clear that the three teens had not been found yet. His arms hugged himself as he stared into the smoke, causing Hound to feel a pang of sympathy for him. The young bot hadn't even had a chance to say how he felt for the blonde-

Immediately, he cut himself off. He would not think that way, would not even humour the idea that Mikaela wouldn't-

He cut himself off again when Prime shot forward, launching over the flimsy yellow tape and hurtling toward the ruined school. A microclick later, Hound and Bee were running with him, eyes locked on the thing he had seen. A click later, Hound was on his knees with his face buried in Mikaela's smoke-and-strawberry scented hair, giving thanks to Primus and each of the Thirteen as he held her tightly. Miles had his head on Bee's lap, the Scout brushing Miles's fringe from his eyes and kissing his forehead and cheeks in relief. Sam was practically straddling Prime's lap, lips at his ear and whispering soothing reassurances to him. Prime had his face buried in Sam's neck, trembling and, like Hound, was whispering fervent thanks to Primus.

Orion pulled away slighty, eyes burning into Sam's. His mouth opened and shut soundlessly, trying to choke words out.  _I thought you were dead. For three hours, I thought you were gone. I thought I'd never-_

Sam smoothed his thumb over is cheek, pressing a dry kiss to his forehead. Then, he rested his head on his shoulder, adrenalin and pain from his ankle and head causing him to shiver lightly. Immediately, Orion carefully lifted him, Sam's arms winding around his neck and legs lightly locking around his waist as the bot lifted him. Ignoring the human medical officers rushing forward, he strode over to where Ratchet was checking Miles's vitals, Bumblebee holding his hand and head resting on his shoulder. Optimus raised an eyebrow at Miles, who raised his own challenging back, eyes sharp on his brother. The two stared for a second, then Optimus's lips quirked up.

They would talk about both Bumblebee and Sam later.

Mikaela giggled, rougher than usual due to the smoke that had choked her, from her place on Hound's lap, orange blanket to ward off shock around her shoulders and forehead cleaned. As Optimus sat down beside the two, he felt Sam smile against his neck.

"How is it," The teen's voice was rough, yet it was easy to hear he was holding back a laugh as well, "every time I need Ratchet, you end up carrying me?"

Almost giddy from relief, Orion rumbled a laugh deep in his chest. "I've made it my job to protect you, though I don't seem to be doing a very job of it."

Sam shook his head, soot-stained hair tickling the Prime's neck, "Not your fault I attract trouble, my Knight."

"Knight?"

"Well, you do have shiny armour."

* * *

"It's okay little one...Shush sweetie, I'm fine...it's okay-"

Quickfire bawled on Sam's lap, face pressed into his chest and little fingers gripping his shirt tightly. He curled around her, stroking her hem and whispering softly to her. Orion carefully sat down beside the human on the sofa and placed a gentle hand on Quickfire's back. Instantly, she also latched on to him, one tiny servo snaking out to grab his shirt. Without thinking, Orion wrapped his arms around them both, resting his chin in Sam's head, the three gathered in a strong embrace. After a few more sniffled sobs, Quickfire dropped into recharge, helm on Sam's heart. Slowly, the two males detangled their embrace and Sam carefully detangled Quickfire's fingers from his shirt. Not wanting Sam to try to both carry her and maneuver on crutches, Orion scooped her up and left the Rec Room, leaving to tuck her in with the other Sparklings, both Hound and Bee following with their own charges.

When they re-entered, the discussion had turned back to the bomb. Bumblebee immediately went over to Miles and plopped himself down on his lap, resting his head on his shoulder and grabbing one of Miles's hands to play with his fingers. The other blonde stared at him in shock for a second, then his face split into a grin and he hugged the bot tightly, pressing a kiss into the messy blonde hair. Despite the large 'Big-Brother' part of them that made them want to grab Bee and lock him up somewhere where the human couldn't corrupt him, the older bots smiled at Bee's grin, unable to deny the young bot who had aged far too quickly this little bit of happiness. Sam was smiling softly at Miles, pride and a little bit of warning dancing in his eyes. The teen was beyond happy for his brother and proud of him for finally 'growing up' when it came to relationships, but if he hurt Bee, Sam wouldn't hesitate to kick his ass. He dragged his eyes away from them to glance over at Matthew, who was scrubbing a hand over his face, jade eyes tired.

"So, you're  _sure_?"

"Yes, Dylan. The bomb wasn't human. And it wasn't Autobot."

"Decepticon." Sideswipe simply named the thing everyone wasn't saying. "They targeted you."

"Yeah," Sam continued, leaning back into Orion's side, "Guess we won't be heading back to school anytime soon."

"Awesome!"

Other than snorting at them, Sam ignored his brother and sister's enthusiasm. To be honest, he was nearly dozing off, because Orion was really warm and the distracted patterns he was drawing on Sam's arm were very...lulling...

"Lightning?"

Sam snapped out of his doze to see both Overcast and Midnight staring at him from the centre of a silent room, still cloaked and only their eyes visible. The eyes of the room were on them, Ironhide and Will 'casually' resting their hands on their guns, each tensed to lunge forward should the two Rebel Elites make a wrong move. Without the Elite knowing, the Prime had tightened his arm around him and moved ever so slightly so he was half-shielding the Elite. Shaking his head, Sam blinked a few time to focus.

"Yes?"

"We...we have something of yours. We thought you might..."

Tilting his head to the side, Sam reached out to take the offered dark cloth. Only when he had it on his lap did he realise what they had handed him.

His folded-up cloak with his mask resting on top.

Miles inhaled sharply at the sight, staring at the items, and then snapped his gaze up to Sam, who seemed lost in a dream-world as his fingers gently brushed across it.

The cloak was as soft as he remembered, warm when needed and cool likewise. There was a rusty dash across the right cuff and splatter across the front, as it seemingly hadn't been washed from when he last wore it. The mask itself seemed to mock him. The thing he had worn for so long, the thing that had once protected his identity almost entirely and the thing that stilled tied him to S7.

This was the mask he wore when he carried out assassinations.

This was the mask he wore when he was supporting S7 to the death.

This was the mask he wore when he would have sooner shot an NBE dead than looked at it.

This mask belong to Lightning. The monster. The murderer. The Druggie.

But he wasn't that person anymore. Not now. He wasn't Lightning, youngest Unspeakable to date, top assassin, murderer of the innocent. He wasn't just a trophy or a monster.

He was Sam. A friend and a brother.

Silently he rose, outside noises tuning out as he grabbed the two items, his crutches and left. Optimus went to go after him, only to be stopped by Miles.

"Let him go."

"But-"

"He's starting a New Year."

"...What?"

* * *

He grabbed one of Ironhide's gasoline canisters as he passed the door of the hanger, making a note to replace it.

* * *

"Elites have New Year's Day as everyone else. However, Elites also have a ceremony know as their 'New Year'. This ceremony allows the Elite to start afresh, their slate wiped clean."

* * *

It took him a good twenty minutes, but he eventually got a small bonfire built up in the centre of one of the fields surrounding the base. He threw the gasoline onto it, thoroughly soaking the scrap wood and materials. Slowly, he pulled the box of matches he had grabbed on his way out of the hanger out of his pocket.

* * *

"They put aside their past and look towards their future."

* * *

The match flared brightly in the night. Sam murmured a few things under his breath in Greek as he stared into the flame, begging for help and guidance. Then, he dropped the match onto the pile. Within in seconds it lit up, spitting and crackling. The flame seemed to wither like a wild thing as he stared into it, heat washing through him. Leaning down, he grabbed the cloak. The Elite carefully ran his fingers through it, memorising it one last time. Then, he simply dropped it onto the fire. It sat there for a second, before the flames engulfed it. Finally, he lifted the mask. He smoothed his thumb across it, head cocked to the side. This mask had been everything he had worked for. This mask was his past. This mask was the last thing tying him to his uncle and the legacy of his family.

Without blinking, he dropped it into the fire.

* * *

"It's almost like they are being reborn. The past is nothing; all that matters is what they do now and how they change their future."

* * *

The cloak and mask blazed, sending sparks spiralling upward. And as they flew towards the stars, Sam could almost feel the fear, indecision and sorrow leave him. So many people close to him were dead, either literally or figuratively.

His parents were gone, but so was much of the sorrow that had hung over him. The same as the pain he felt over his uncles, aunts and cousins. He would always miss them, always mourn them. But now, the wounds weren't quite as painful. The wounds were healing.

Strong arms carefully slipped around his waist. He leaned back into the equal strong chest, cupping the back of Orion's neck with one hand and resting the other over his hands. Orion turned his head slightly, brushing a kiss against the inside of Sam's wrist. Together, the two stared into the small fire, Orion supporting Sam physically and emotionally.

He wasn't Lightning. That part of his life was  _over._

* * *

"A new beginning. A new outlook, a new slate. A brand new future."

* * *

It was finally time to start living again.

 


	32. Take Your Hand In Mine

They were almost two months into their new routine. Now that school was a complete no-no, the three teens helped around base instead. Miles and Mikaela would wake up, go train with Sam in the gym/training room they had helped install fully a few days after the bomb, then they would head to Ratchet and Sam would go to Prime, if he wasn't in meetings. Optimus had approached the human a few days after the bomb and asked him, if he wished, to write down the things the Allspark showed him in his dreams, as most of Cybertron's history had been long lost. Sam willingly agreed and so the two would work side-by-side in the early morning, Sam writing out the history of Cybertron and Optimus trying to produce some sort of future on Earth. After that, Sam would sort out any 'Elite 'Rebels'' problems and help train Midnight, Overcast and the four other Elites (All either disgraced and one pregnant) who had arrived after the bomb, one by one, to fight  _with_  the Cybertronians. Then both Optimus and Sam would spend most of the late afternoon with Quickfire.

There was only one tiny problem with the routine for the two leaders.

They were completely head over heels for each other, but completely blind to the fact the other wanted them as much as they wanted him. And as the two sat side-by-side when they worked, this of course led to awkward moments when one accidentally brushed up against the other and sent sparks dancing under their skin.

 _Resting his head in his palm, Sam's smooth calligraphy faded slightly as his pen ran out. Rolling his eyes, he set the pen to the side and went to grab another, only for his hand to accidentally brush against Optimus's. The Prime started as the low thrum of sparks that seemed to vibrate just under his skin when the human was near flared suddenly at Sam's touch. The teen pulled his hand back like he had burned_   _it, quickly ducking his head to hide his blush with his hair._

Despite moments like this, they talked a lot, about anything really. Books; politics; art; Quickfire, anything that popped into their heads was up for conversation. So, Optimus immediately knew something was wrong a few days after Halloween. Sam had been withdrawn, to say the least. It wasn't very noticeable, only those who truly knew him could tell. His smile was just a little too tight at the edges, and the walls were building behind his eyes again. Today seemed to be the worse. He was distracted, fingers twitching as if to grab something and tapping out irregular beats. Shadows had started to appear under his eyes slowly and he seemed exhausted. Optimus watched him from the corner of his eye, worry building in the back of his processor. After a few hours, Sam pushed the papers away from himself, roughly messing up his hair.

"I'm going to go to the gym...cya, Orion."

Orion called out his own goodbye, shaking his head when the door clicked shut and pushing away his worry.  _Sam is fine,_ he told himself,  _he's just got something on his mind._

Five minutes later, the paperwork lay abandoned.

* * *

_First, distract target..._

_Hit to the shoulder, throwing them off-balanced._

_Then block his blind jab, counter with cross to left cheek. Discombobulate._

" _ **How many time did you spread you legs to get yourself a fucking bodyguard, you-"**_

_Dazed, will attempt wild haymaker. Employ elbow block, and body shot_

_Kick to the right side, rupturing kidneys_

**"** _**You will be mine."** _

_Hit to the shoulder, throwing them off-balanced._

_Kick to the right side, rupturing kidneys._

" _ **You're nothing but a filthy traitor. You are not my family. You. Are. NOTHING!"**_

_Block feral left, weaken right jaw, now fracture._

_Break cracked ribs, traumatize solar plexus, dislocate jaw entirely._

_Heel kick to diaphragm..._

" _ **Freak"**_

_Hit to the chest_

_Hit to the chest_

_Hit to the chest_

_Hit to the chest_

_Hit to the-_

" _FUCK!"_

Panting harshly, Sam rested his forehead against the bag, screwing his eyes shut and trying to push down the screaming in his head

' _Nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing traitor traitor traitor traitor freak freak freak freak freak freak-'_

" _SHUT UP!"_ he roared, punching the bag over and over again until his knuckles split angrily. His entire frame shook as he sank to the ground, wrapping his arms around himself. He cursed himself furiously at such weakness, at letting such a little thing get to him.

_The six other rebel Elites sat huddled together, unaware that Sam was passing by. Striker, an Elite disgraced after refusing to kill his pledged after they had double-crossed S7, shook his head. "Blaze doesn't have anything to worry about it. If S7 get their hands on him, they'll let him go. He's good, but not good enough to risk the NB-wait, I gotta call them Autobots, right?-the Autobots wrath. Lightning is a completely different story. He betrayed his blood, and now they want to see his spilling on the ground at their feet."_

For almost a week now, due to that little throw-off comment, night-after-night his dreams had turned to nightmares. His parents death, his family's disownment, Miles's near-misses, his time with S7 and what could still come, everything was being shown over and over again and he couldn't claw himself out of the dream. He was exhausted and furious with himself for letting such a small thing get to him, for allowing himself to feel enough fear that would cloud his judgment. And now, ever since, he had that familiar, almost overwhelming urge to get something, take something,  _do_ something to stop the whispering in his head.

' _Epps has a pack of cigarettes in his back pocket. The ones his dad always smoked. He doesn't smoke, he'll never open the packet. Go on. Take one-'_

' _ **No**_ _.'_

' _Miles had a bottle of Jack under the sink in his flat. He'd never notice-'_

' _ **Shut up**_ _.'_

' _You could always call up someone and get something. Just one little line-'_

' _ **I'm-clean-I'm-clean-I'm-clean**_ _'_

' _Or just take your dagger. So much safer and faster. Instant rush.'_

Sam's hand slowly drifted down to his waist and wrapped around the dagger. He slid it out of its holster and twisted his wrist upright, pushing up his sleeve.

' _Do it. Do it Do it Do it.'_

He traced the tip of the dagger across the older lines on his wrist, each faded to a thin silver line. The cold metal made him shiver as he traced it across his skin, pressing the tip into the underside of his arm until a single bead of crimson blossomed.

' _Do it'_

He paused, eyes drawn to the other lines.

' _Do it'_

They were old. Very old. Months old. Frowning, he tried to cast his mind back to the last time he had dragged the dagger across his skin. October? July? No... _June?_

' _Do it!'_

He couldn't go more than a few days without doing it. How could he not have done it for over four months without noticing? Immediately, both a set of blue optics and a set of green flashed across his vision.

Orion. Quickfire.

' _ **...no**_ _'_

What would they think if they saw him doing this? What if he went too far, again?

_'Do it!'_

' _ **No.**_ _'_ He had a responsibility. Quickfire  **needed** him. And Orion-

' _DO IT!'_

" _NO!"_ The dagger flew through the air, sinking a couple of inches into the wall, wobbling slightly. Sam took a few deep breaths, clean air filling his lungs and clearing his head. He hadn't...he didn't...for the first time since he had started, Sam hadn't gone through with it. He stared at his hands as if he had never seen them before, a hysterical laugh bubbling in his throat.

Any feeling of humour vanished when he felt to strong arms on his shoulders. The human snapped his head around to meet Orion's horrified eyes. The Prime had walked in just in time to see Sam lift the dagger off his arm and throw it. Now, he was kneeling in front of him and those strong hands were holding Sam's arms in place as he frantically tried to pull them away, to prevent the mech from seeing.

"Orion...Orion,  _please-"_

The mech's neon gaze snapped up from his arms to meet Sam's terrified eyes. He instantly let go, Sam pulling his arms back and crossing them tightly. The human thought he was going to be sick, heart in his throat and refusing to lift his eyes from the ground.

"Sam." He couldn't look up, couldn't bear to see the disgust in the mech's eyes. When the Prime touched his cheek, he flinched. Strong, slightly work-rough fingers crept under his chin and gently tilted his head up, tenderly but firmly making Sam look him in the eye. Orion's spark broke at the self-disgust and fear in his eyes.

"How long?"

"Three years."

"Why?"

Sam was silent for a moment, swallowing the lump in his throat. "After I got out of S7, I kept having flashbacks and nightmares. I was barely sleeping and...and scared of my own shadow. I was just trying to make it all stop, so I did a lot of really stupid things. I drank, smoked, and got high. Anything to-to make it  _stop."_ His voice cracked, but he pushed it down because, as amazingly cliché as it sounded, it felt good to get it off his chest. "But it soon wasn't enough, wasn't fast enough. Doing this, it was instant. Addicting. When I stopped everything else, I kept doing this, because it was 'safer' and faster. I just...I couldn't stop. Even now I get moments where I just can't  _breathe_ and this helps, sort of." Suddenly, his voice became desperate, almost pleading with the calmly listening mech. "But I don't  _want_  to do it anymore. I swear, I want to stop, it just all keep building up and up and I can't put this on Miles or Mikaela's shoulders and it's the only thing that make  _sense_  and I-" He forced himself quiet, closing his eyes.

"Sam."

He shook his head, unable to force himself to look the mech in the eyes and see the disappointment there.

" _Sam."_

It was just a soft whisper, a plea that Sam couldn't ignore. He slowly opened his eyes to meet the mech's soft ones. Orion gently reached out and straightened Sam's arm, pushing up the sleeve. Making sure to keep his eyes locked on Sam's, he brought the human's wrist up and brushed a kiss against each silver line. Sam's mouth parted in disbelief as he did so, gazing up at him with stunned eyes. When he had kissed right up to the crook of his arm, Orion carefully pulled the human until he was sitting on his lap, draping one arm around his neck, while the other moved up itself to place a hand on his shoulder. He placed his hands on the human's hips, finger splayed out, and stared into the human's eyes intently, making sure he had his full attention.

"Promise me you won't ever do this again, Sam."

"I-"

"Listen to me, Sam. If you  _ever_  feel like that again, you come to me, okay? No matter when or why, you come straight to me and we'll work it out. I  _swear_  to you, we will sort it out,  _together."_

"You don't need me wasting your time-"

"' _Wasting my time-'"_ Orion cut himself off, releasing a calming breath. "Sam. You are one of the most important beings in my life. The thought of you in pain-it physically pains me. I am  _begging_ you.  _Please_  let me help you."

"How? How could I possibly be important to you?" The brutal honesty in his voice made Orion want to hunt down every being that had made his human feel so worthless.

"You are important to me. Irreplaceable, ridiculously selfless and brave. You are my friend and you will  _always_  be important to me."

If he had been human, he would have missed the tiny whisper of, "Promise?". He pressed his forehead against Sam's, wrapping his arms around the slim male securely. "Until the stars stop turning and for eternity afterwards."

Sam pressed his face into the crook of the Prime's neck, clinging to him tightly. "Thankyou."

That's when Sam fell in love with Orion like how someone falls asleep: Slowly, then all at once.

* * *

He gazed up at the night's sky, arm's crossed behind his head, tracing the constellations there. Andromeda and her mother Cassiopeia, the Phoenix and-

"Aren't you cold?"

Sam smiled up at Orion, pushing down the embarrassingly pre-teen feeling of butterflies. The holo had his head tilted curiously as he stared down at the human, trying to figure out why he had asked him to come out here earlier.

"Nah, I'm fine."

"...Okay?"

Rolling his eyes, Sam waved his hand at the area of grass beside him. Orion eyed him for a moment, the shrugged and lay down on his back beside him. "Why did you call me out here?"

"You looked like if you had to split up another fight between Mirage and Sideswipe, you would end up putting your helm through a wall. Not that it'd hurt  _you_ , but I like that wall."

Orion tilted his head to look at the human. Mirage had landed the day of Halloween and taken an instant dislike to the humans. That had irked the entire team, his brother Jazz included, but they had kept silent about it, mainly at the humans' request. Sideswipe, for reasons known only to the bond-stressed mech, had determined himself as champion for the humans and reacted quite violently to the mech's sneers, especially when the mech had made a sly remark about Sam's and Miles's scars. The only reason it was  _he_  who hit the mech was because Bumblebee had been held back by a seething Prowl and was unwilling to risk hurting the Carrier, and Optimus wasn't actually present at the time.

He and Sam had barely got time to talk since the promise they made in the training room due to all the fuss, and yet he had still picked his stress up? His spark fluttered in his chest and his lips quirked up at the side.

"So...what are we doing?"

"Well, I'm stargazing. You can join me, or you can just lie back and meditate or something."

Orion smiled again, unable to help himself. "So...what's  _that?"_ He gestured towards a cluster of stars.

"Andromeda...you have constellations on Cybertron, right? And the myths and legends that go with them?"

"Of course."

"Oh, great. So basically, Andromeda represents the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, the king and queen of Ethiopia in ancient times. Andromeda was chained to a rock as a sacrifice to the sea monster Cetus, but she was saved by Perseus when he turned Cetus to stone by using the dismembered head of the Medusa."

"Medusa?"

"Snake-haired woman who was cursed by Athena, Greek Goddess of Wisdom and War, for getting too friendly with Poseidon, God of the Seas and Athena's greatest rival, in Athena's temple."

"Morbid, but alright...what about that one?"

"Cassiopeia, who was the wife of Cepheus and mother of Andromeda. She's shown in the stars as being chained to her throne in the heavens as punishment for her boast of being more beautiful than all the Nereids-female spirits of sea waters. When the constellation rotates, she can sometimes be seen suffering as she hangs upside down."

"These stories are all very depressing."

"It was ancient Greece, suffering sold."

The two lay their, side-by-side for a while, fingertips brushing, Orion pointing out a few constellations and Sam providing the back-story, until-

"...Can you see Cybertron from here?"

Orion was silent for a few moments, and Sam, fearing he had hurt him in someway, went to apologize when-

"There."

He pointed to a brightly flaring star, shinning brightly in the sky. "Nova, named after one of the first Prime's, was our sun." The longing the Prime thought he had hid made Sam roll over slightly, placing his ear over the Prime's spark and stretching across to place a hand on his shoulder. Orion curled into the comfort, wrapping an arm around his waist. Sam looked back at Nova, then his eyes widened.

"Well damn..."

"What?"

"Nova's in a constellation. It's the constellation of Orion."

Despite himself, the Prime barked out a laugh. "And what's  _his_  story then? Horribly depressing?"

"Depends on which version."

"Which one do you like best?"

Sam smiled against the mech's chest before speaking, "Orion was a great hunter, some say the greatest of them all. He was arrogant and boasted to the Maiden Goddess Artemis, Goddess of the Moon and Hunt, that he could hunt any creature, so she challenged him to a competition on a remote island, filled with animals only. But, throughout the competition, she saw another side to him and began to fall in love with him, and he began falling for her. It came to the point the Artemis left to go to her father Zeus and ask for her Maiden Vow to be revoked and for permission to take him as her immortal, eternal lover. Eventually, Zeus agreed and Artemis returned to Orion. However, when she was gone, her twin brother Apollo had found the hunter and fell 'in lust' for him. But when Orion rejected his flirtation, stating that he belonged to his sister completely, Apollo flew into a rage. He conjured a large scorpion to attack the hunter and despite his best efforts to escape, he was stung by it and killed. Artemis returned to the island to find her lover cold on the beach. The Goddess was heart-broken but could do nothing as the laws of fate and death were not to be tampered with. Instead, she prayed over his body, turning it into a handful of stars. She cupped the stars in her hands and whispered her eternal love for her hunter to them, then threw them upwards and into the night sky. So every night, when she walks among the stars, she can walk with her lover once more."

"Wow. So depressing, but not as depressing as the others."

Sam laughed, shoulders shaking in his amusement. "That's only one story. In others, Orion was a cold, arrogant bastard who attempted to rape Artemis."

"I think I prefer the first."

"Mus be something, though. To feel that sort of love." He hadn't meant to say it out-loud, but the words were out before he could stop them.

"It is." Orion's eyes went wide with panic.  _Had he just-_

"You've been in love like that?"

"I am."

 _'No no no no!'_  The mech wanted to scream at himself ' _Shut up shut up shut up!'_

"Another mech or-"

"Human."

_'SHUT UP!'_

"Really? What are they like?" Sam's tone gave away nothing of the hurt that was tearing through him

Orion didn't even bother trying to stop himself now. "Beautiful; Kind; Patient; Caring; Wickedly smart; Sarcastic, Recklessly brave and utterly selfless. I want to be by his side always; fall asleep with him in my arms and wake up with him still there. I've never felt like this for anyone before, ever."

Sam shifted slightly, palm flat against Orion's chest and closed his eyes lightly, lashes scraping his cheek. Biting his lip to stop how he truly felt spilling out, he shrugged.

"You should tell him."

Orion's eyes snapped from the stars to stare down at Sam, face hidden by his hair and the Prime's shirt. Gently, he lifted his hand from the small of the human's back and ran it lightly through his hair, spark humming contentedly as Sam curled even closer into him.

"How?"

The human shrugged again, face still hidden. "Just ask him. Don't bother with any pretenses, the guy should like you for you, so just say it to him straight."

"Okay"

If the holo-form had been a mere human, he wouldn't have noticed Sam's shoulders tense or that he pressed against him a fraction closer. Humans generally did that when they needed comfort, yes? Had...had he  _hurt_ Sam? Orion's spark squeezed tightly in his chest at the thought. He had. He had _hurt_  him. His mouth parted slightly, for once struck dumb. Sam was hurting because of something  _he_  had said.

...But all he had said was that he had very strong ( _never felt like this before. Ever.)_ feelings for someone. So why would Sam be hurt by  _that_?

...Unless...

His spark seemed to skip a pulse. Maybe...

The human swallowed, exhaling shakily as he pushed down the stupid tightness in his throat, ear directly over Orion's softly pulsing spark. The mech absentmindedly played with his hair, both comforting him and killing him. This is all he'd ever have with the mech, at most. He was falling helm over pede for a different human and, like always, Sam would be left alone in his room again, trying to find peace at the bottom of a bottle. At least here, for a few moments, he could pretend it was  _him_  the mech spoke of with such obvious affection and devotion in his voice. For a few minutes, he could dream that it was _him_  who the mech would take to dinner, kiss on the cheek, hold when cold and whisper to at night. Because that's all it was. A dream. Because, what could he offer Orion? He couldn't offer him peace, or the family he deserved so much. The mech deserved someone beautiful and soft and  _whole,_  not someone as scarred, sharp and broken as him.

Whatever he had thought they had was wrong. It was ridiculous to even  _entertain_  the thought that-

"Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"May I court you?"

The human's eyes shot open. He stared for a second, running the sentence over in his mind before sitting upright, twisting so his right hand was was beside the mech's left shoulder. Lips parted softly, sharp eyes raked over Orion's face, looking for some hint of deception. Orion Pax, easily the bravest, selfless and most caring being that the human had ever met, wanted  _him_? The messed-up freak on the run from his family? This had to be a joke, surely? A twisted, cruel one, true, but a joke all the same. Yet, the mech was a lot of things, and cruel was certainly not one of them. Almost scared to see what lay in them, Sam met Orion's eyes, that tiny part of him that loved to whisper everything that could go wrong just waiting to see the jest and mockery in them.

Orion looked up at him evenly, and all Sam could see was four things. A tiny splash of fear, even amounts of vulnerability and hope, mixed in with another emotion that took his breath away.

"You really want to court.. _.me_?"

* * *

_"You really want to court...me?"_

Orion stared up at the human uncomprehendingly. Sam's lips ( _He just had to lean up-)_ were parted in disbelief, as if he couldn't understand what the Prime was saying. For a microclick, the fear in the back of his processor ( _what if he doesn't feel the same and this ruins everything?)_ almost took over, until he realised just what he was seeing.

The walls Sam had built behind his eyes were, for the first time, completely gone. No false images, no masks, it was just Sam who was looking back at him, looking equally hopefully and terrified. Very carefully, Orion lifted his hand to cup his cheek gently.

"How could I ever want anyone other than you?"

There was no dishonesty, no jest in the mech's eyes. He meant it, he  _truly_  meant every word. He wanted  _him_.

There was a split second, and in that second the fear was chased out of Sam's eyes, completely overthrown by the sudden elation that was spreading through him. A completely new, completely honest and completely unstoppable smile spread across his lips and lit his eyes up. Any lingering doubts were chased from Orion's mind, the way the human was haloed by the stars and this entirely new smile that was  _his,_  stealing his breath away.

 _Beautiful_.

In the next second, Sam had darted down and pressed his lips against Orion's. For a moment, Orion's processor went completely blank in shock. Then, ever so softly, Sam's lips moved. And the sparks that Orion had felt every time their hands had brushed seemed to burst under his lips, spreading until it seemed he had electicty running through his energon. The hand that was on Sam's cheek slipped down to cup the back of his neck, while his other hand moved up to lightly touch  _ **HIS**_  human's waist as he kissed him back. Months of build-up from lingering touches, 'platonic' kisses, and unbreakable gazes that sent sparks dancing under their skin seemed to ignite something within the two. Suddenly, close wasn't close enough as fire seemed to scorch through their veins, a desperate need to be closer and closer  _now._

Vaguely, he felt Sam's lips curl into  _that_  smile again and he just couldn't help his own from spreading as well. Unable to help himself, he moved his hand from Sam's waist to the small of his back and rolled him underneath him smoothly.

Sam looked up at him with a laugh, eyes sparkling as he looped his arms around his neck and a leg around his waist. Orion smiled down at him, spark racing in his chest as he leaned down to press his lips against the graceful curve of Sam's neck, placing soft kisses against it as he moved up ( _mine mine mine mine)_ to press another kiss on his lips, left hand lightly caressing Sam's side and, distractedly ( _How could he focus on anything other than him?)_  drawing glyphs there ( _Mine...Always...Love...Mine)._ Carefully, he nipped Sam's bottom lip lightly, having to swallow a moan when Sam willingly let him deepen the kiss a moan of his own. ' _Sam,'_  he mused as he dragged his lips away from the human's to let them both catch their breaths for a moment,  _tastes like apples. 'Apples, and something sweet with a hint of energon.'_  The human arched up from under him, letting one of his hands slip down from Orion's neck to his grip his shoulder with an almost whimper of Orion's name. The mech shivered at the sound of his name being dragged from Sam's lips, gasping his human's name out in-between short, intense kisses. Sam's slim fingers twirled through Orion's inky hair, unable to focus on anything than ' _Orion Orion my Orion mine mine my Orion'._  ' _Orion,'_  he finally decided as he dragged his lips away to burn a line of kisses across the Mech's jawline, ' _tastes like strawberries and something sweet that tingled like electricity_.' Orion turned his head to catch Sam's lips again, desperately wanting another taste as his left hand slowly slid down Sam's side, dragging another moan from the human. Careful fingers curled under his thigh and the Prime slowly hooked the human's leg around his waist, then crept his hand back up to support Sam's back. Unable to make himself seperate from the human, he tenderly drew him upright so he was sitting on his lap. The fire that scorched through them cooled to a softer, warmer glow, the kisses slowing down and stretching out. They parted, but with no awkward jerking back or embarrassed stuttering. Sam leaned forward, resting his forehead against Orion's, both their breathing uneven.

"Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Dinner, tomorrow night?"

Giving the mech  _that_  smile, the smile Orion was sure he was never going to disagree with, Sam pressed a soft kiss against the corner of his mouth and rested his head in the crook of his neck.

"Perfect."


	33. Wait, what?!

Miles blinked blearily over Sam and Optimus. The two were sitting at a small table on the other side of the canteen, finishing off their breakfast. The fact the two were sitting alone, rather with the group had just entered (including the first arrivals, their mates and Barricade), wasn't suprising as the two generally where up at the crack of dawn and off doing their work as the others walked in. No, what was suprising was the tension between the two.

There was none. None, zip, nada. Which was quite puzzling, seeing as most of the time, the two oblivious males were doing everything they could not to throw themselves at each other. But now, there was no tension between the two what so ever. Optimus was gesturing lightly with one hand, smiling as he spoke. Sam rested his chin in his palm, laughing every now and then at whatever story the Prime was telling, smiling when he wasn't. Smiling.

Miles narrowed his eyes, leaning forward in his chair slightly. Sam was smiling at Optimus, flashing his pearly whites, bright blue eyes sparkling with a few things Miles had never seen in them before. Joy. Freedom. And...and something else.

"Kaela, you seeing this?"

Mikaela nodded dumbly, furrowing her own forehead. "That's...weird. I've never seen him so.."

"Happy?"

"Yeah..."

"Me neither..." The blonde trailed off as he realised most of the table was staring at him. "What?"

"What are you talk-"

Ironhide cut himself off, eyes going wide as a rich laugh echoed over. Snapping his head around, he was treated to a sight he hadn't seen in  _vorns._  Sam was grinning at Optimus's reaction, eyes sparkling as Optimus had his head tiled back slightly as he laughed, trying to stifle the sound with one hand. The Warrior didn't need to look back to see the other holos leaning forward in their seats, cocking their heads to the side curiously as they stared at the Prime.

"Is he-"

"Yup."

"Even more than recently"

"Yup."

The holos looked back at the humans, and they all stared at each other with stupefied expressions. "Are they..." Bee eventually questioned, "Are they... _happy?"_

"Apparently." Ratchet answered, sharing a confused look with Jazz. "But why?"

"It's really sad that we are all so surprised our brothers are happy." Barricade softly interjected, gaining a nod from most.

"Wait...do you think they-?" They all snapped their heads around to stare a Epps, who had just sat down with his coffee, then Wheeljack snorted. "Don't be ridiculous, it would take a life or death situation for them two to admit how they feel for each other."

Hound snorted into his coffee, causing most of the others to do likewise.

"True." Prowl softly mused, eyes narrowed slightly. "But they  _do_ seem very..." He broke off searching for the right word. Barricade swallowed, and supplied quietly, "Domesticated?"

Prowl's eyes went sharp on his older brother, cold and flat. But then, when a few seconds had passed, they warmed minutely. "Something like that."

Three little words began the healing of the huge divide between them, and Barricade's face split into a smile, which caused Prowl to let his own, tiny smile through his mask.

"They're getting up."

Eyes snapped to the two leaders who stood up and made their way over to the door together.

* * *

"I'll see you at eleven?"

"Yeah, I have to talk to the Elites about a few faux pas's then I'll be right up."

Orion smiled down at Sam, then reached out to tuck a stray lock of copper hair behind the human's ear, trailing his fingertips lightly across his cheek and taking a step forward when Sam turn to rest his head in his palm. Orion smoothed his thumb across Sam's cheekbone, biting his bottom lip slightly.

* * *

"Holy fucking shit man."

"But..." Mikaela's mouth had dropped open at the sight of Optimus softly cupping Sam's cheek in the canteen doorway, staring down at him like he was looking at some priceless treasure. "But they're not..."

* * *

"What's wrong?"

"I..." Orion hesitated, unable to look away from Sam's eyes. "I want to kiss you." He confessed, eyes conflicted. Sam reached out with his other hand to lay it, palm flat, over Orion's chest, feeling the gentle pulse of his spark.

"Why don't you?"

* * *

"Are they? No...are they?" Will was staring at them, then looking away and looking back, as if to make sure it wasn't just a trick of the light. The breakfast lay abandoned as the group practically sat on the end of the chairs, a few mouths falling open.

* * *

"I am not well-versed in human courtship. Some do not like affection in public, especially when their partner is of the same gender as them. I do not want to insult you."

Sam had to smile at the honesty in Orion's voice, beyond touched. He took another step forward so they were almost chest-to-chest, only his hand between them. Orion hand slipped from his cheek to cup the back of his neck, playing with the hair there, his other arm wrapping around Sam's waist. Sam's hands slipped up to lightly rest on his shoulders, smoothing his thumb across Orion's collarbone and feeling the tension there dissipate immediately.

"I would be insulted if you didn't kiss me goodbye."

The smile that stole across Orion's was like the sun pushing through the clouds.

"Well, we can't have that."

* * *

Any mouths that were not open before now were, jaws unhinged. They were kissing. ' _KISSING!',_  Bumblebee was practically screaming in his head,  _'SINCE WHEN DO THEY KISS?!'_

Jazz's glass was slowly overfilling with apple juice as he stared at the two males. The kiss itself wasn't even that deep, just a long press of lips, slow and intimate. There was nothing X-rated, no moans, no groping, hands not straying from the respectable places of Sam's waist and Orion's shoulders. But the _intensity_  from the kiss? It was as if the two were lost in their own little world, barely an inch between them, like two pieces of a jigsaw slotting together perfectly. And when they parted, there was no awkward jerk back or embarrassed fumble. The kiss just slowed until they softly broke it off, and then they just stood wrapped up in each other for a second. Resting his forehead against Sam's, Orion's lips-inches from Sam's-moved indecipherably, causing the human to smile at him. Sam, going up on his tiptoes, pressed another kiss against Orion's lips, then the two detangled and reluctantly went their separate ways.

Well, almost.

Orion probably went about two steps before turning around on his heel and calling something after Sam, who answered with an echoing laugh. The holo stood there for a second, staring after the human with an expression not unlike a love-sick cyber-canine, then turned and went in the opposite direction.

Slowly, the table turned to stare at each other. Then-

" _Holy shit holy **shit!"**_

_**"Everybody saw that, right?!"** _

_"How long have they-"_

_"You know what, I'm gonna go-"_

_"Yeah, we're gonna-"_

_"-talk-"_

_"-later-"_

_"- **shit!** "_

* * *

_"_ So, then you kissed him?"

Sam glanced away, back over to where Overcast and Viper where training, but not fast enough to stop his brother and sister from seeing his cheeks stain red. Mikaela squealed, jumping about slightly and Bumblebee grinned at him, eyes crinkling and shinning in a way that reminded Sam of Orion. After squealing some more and chattering for a few minutes,

"So...uh huh...then you...AWWWWW...tell me!...don't be a spoil sport!...Aw, come on, Optimus won't mind!...Fine then, be all respectful of his privacy, see if I care!"

Sam had to laugh at Mikaela's 'insulted' look, which melted into happiness at the sound of his laugh. She kissed him on the cheek and skipped off, still grinning like a fool. Sam went back to writing out a few more guidelines for the Rebels, only to look around at Bumblebee curiously.

"Bee?" He ventured, curious to why he was still there. The blonde bit his lips for a second, then looked up at Sam, big blue eyes pleading.

"Don't hurt him."

His brother had gone through so much in his life. His real generator (Bee forced down a growl), being bullied school for being a 'Scholarship' mech, QuickStrick (Another growl pushed down), Maximus's betrayal, fighting a war from when he was only barely a mech ( _just_  the same age as Sam now), watching Cybertron die, his family and friends offline...

Up until a few months ago (The night the two teens had been reunited with the sparklings. Orion had looked over at Sam and never really looked away) Bee and the others had been honestly worried they had lost him completely. Over the vorns, they had seen practically only the Prime, very little Optimus and almost never Orion. The flirty, open, prankster of a mech had almost disappeared and until that night, they thought they had lost him completely. Then Sam had blazed into his life like a firework, the human that gave everything and believed he deserved nothing in return flipping his entire world on his head. Over the last few months they had stayed silent, but inside had been squealing and rejoicing as Orion slowly started to come out of the shell he had built around himself. And Sam didn't even realise he had been doing it, and that's what made the bots love their new little brother even more.

But right now, it all balanced on a knife's edge. Because if Sam decided Orion wasn't worth the danger that accompanied being the beloved of a Prime-

Orion wouldn't survive that. They would lose him again, and this time, probably for good.

Sam looked back at him with those strangely-old eyes, the ones that skipped past whatever emotion you were hiding behind to see what you truly felt. Then they widened slightly and he nodded in understanding.

"I can't" Sam turned away from him with an almost laugh, raking his finger though his hair. "I  _can't,_  Bee. Even the thought of him hurting-" abruptly he stopped and distractedly placed a hand on his chest, over his heart, trying to rid the sudden sharpness there and blind to Bumblebee's eyes going wide at the movement. "It hurt's too much. Gods' help me but I-"

"Sam?"

"I think I love him." It was a whisper and a tiny smile, as if the human couldn't believe he was saying it. Bumblebee's mouth dropped open for the second time. "I can't even explain it Bee...for Primus's sake, we haven't even been dating a full day but..."

He trailed off with a helpless shrug. "For the moment I saw him I felt...something." His hand drifted back to rest over his heart again. "Like...like something was clicking into place. And ever since, it's just got stronger and stronger. He's all I can think about. I want him to be happy, and if I can give him that, even for just a while..." He spun around abruptly, eyes locking with Bumblebee's, earnest and positive in his promise, "Until he sends me away I swear I'll stand by his side."

Bumblebee's lips pulled up into a smile and he nodded at Sam, hugging him quickly. "Thank-you."

_Damn_ , but his brother had chosen well.

* * *

" _Out_ , Dijon!"

The dark haired Warrior left Optimus's office with a laugh, both he and Will giggling like school children. Miles poked his head into his office, watching Optimus shake his head with a low laugh and go back to signing paperwork. After a few seconds, he looked up, meeting Miles's eyes.

"Miles?"

The blonde moved into the room, walking right up to the Prime's desk. He looked over the holo with narrowed eyes, silent for a few heartbeats. Then he shook his head, glancing out the window and back to the patiently waiting Prime.

"If I tell you to stay away from him, you'll completely ignore me, right?"

"I am going to stay beside him until he tells me to stay away, and not a moment sooner." Optimus was soft-spoken, but firm and unwavering.

Despite himself, Miles smiled at him. "I'm actually really happy you two got your heads out of your asses. I haven't seen Sam as happy as when he's with you since before he was recruited. I'm not going to tell you what I'll do to you if you hurt him, cause it's pretty damn obvious. You're a good mech, Optimus, and you're the only person I'd ever be happy about dating my brother. Don't make me regret trusting you with him."

Optimus stood, offering Miles his hand. The human took it and shook it firmly, holding his gaze. "I won't, I swear."

Miles nodded, and turned to go, only to stop once more. "Orion."

Miles paused and smiled at Orion, then nodded as he left the office. He had only got down to the end of the hall when he realised Sam was walking towards him, talking to Sideswipe intently. Eyes wide, the other human hid the doorway of one of the rooms, hiding from his brother. He waited until he and Sideswipe had parted and Sam moved to go into Optimus office before he peeked out again. The moment he entered, Optimus's head popped up and he smiled, looking far younger than Miles had ever seen him.

Despite himself, the blonde huffed with a grin. A blind man could see the mech loved his brother.

_Damn_ , but his brother had chosen well.

* * *

A tiny part of Sam had been  _terrified_ that something would go wrong. Things would be awkward, or something would happen, a thousand different things that may go wrong spinning around his head.

But when Orion had knocked on his door at eight, wearing dark jeans with a pale blue dress shirt...everything just sort of vanished. The mech's searing gaze had raked over Sam's similar dress, lingering on his lips before meeting his eyes and offering his hand with  _that_  smile (May the Gods' help him, the holo had freaking  _dimples!_  How the P _it_  was he supposed to resist  _that?!)_. And Sam took it, threading their fingers and felt at home.

It also had been easily the best night of his life. They had went to a small Italian restaurant (Really, was the mech  _trying_  to completely destroy his image of every other male in the universe?) and went for a walk around the lake after (Sam had never thought he would enjoy that sort of romance, but Orion's arm around his shoulder as they talked about everything and anything and being softly kissed under a full moon? Damn, the mech had  _style)._ Then another kiss (or two...or three...really, the human had lost count), pressed up against Orion's alt mode door with Sam's legs wrapped around the holo's waist, and this one was all fire and fast and needing deep lungfuls of air while the holo's lips traced up his neck and  _wow_  he did not know he was that sensitive  _there_.

And at the end of the night, the holo had walked him to his door and kissed him goodnight softly, leaving with a smile and a kiss pressed against his knuckles.

And Sam didn't shut the door and slide down it, giggling like a four year old girl and smiling so hard his cheeks ached. He shut the door and slid down it, giggling like a very badass macho Elite and smiling so hard his cheeks ached, thank you very much.

* * *

Orion shut his door softly, turning to lean his back against it, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling, a smile slowly pulling across his lips as he laughed, so utterly happy he couldn't stop himself.

* * *

Still smiling like a fool, Sam draped his jacket over the small sofa in his living room, stretching as he entered his dark kitchen to grab a drink and went to flip on the light.

"So, how was the date?"

"SON OF A BITCH, MILES!"

* * *

Shaking his head and still smiling, Optimus opened the door of his bedroom with a click, fingers searching for the light switch.

"So, how was the date?"

"FRAGGING PIT, BUMBLEBEE!

* * *

_**A few hours later** _

_Crack!_

The purple jet appeared in a flash, immediately cloaking himself with borrowed technology and powering up his holo-form. The long black hair that shone purple under light was tied at the nape of the pale holo's neck, violet eyes glowing brightly. He whistled low three times and waited. Then,

"What took you so long?"

"Still thought you'd back out, Autobot."

"We have a deal. You go in, get rid of it and plead your case. I'll take responsibility for you."

"You really hate this insect, don't you?"

The dark haired holo spat on the ground, disgust clear on his features. "That  _filth_  is why we don't have a home, and to think Prime let's it  _speak_  to him-" he shuddered, "It doesn't even deserve to  _look_  at Prime."

"Jealous, Mirage?"

"Shut your mouth and get on with it."

Skywarp shrugged delicately, then vanished with a smell of ozone. Mirage glanced around himself, unease drifting across the aristocratic features. Was this really right?

_'For your family. He will endanger them!'_ And in the middle of the night, unseen by all, Mirage's eyes flashed red.

* * *

He approached the bed silently, looking down at the human curiously. He was curled up at left side of the bed, blanket pooling at his waist. Skywarp peered into the human's face curiously, noting the soft expression there. If Skywarp was honest with himself, the human looked like many a mech he had seen dreaming of their mate in a time of peace, when they could just lie out in the Crystal Gardens and whisper secrets to each other. The human had that same peaceful expression, and it made the con feel a stab of regret which was quickly smothered. He had to do this, this was Mirage's deal-breaker. Kill the human, and Mirage would stand for him, so Skywarp could talk to the Prime later and get him to  _listen_.

He pulled the dagger from his belt and took a steadying breath, then gently pressed the point into the sleeping human's neck.

"Primus, forgive me."

Skywarp blinked, and the human was staring up at him with his hand wrapped around his wrist in an energon-stopping grip.

_'Oh Slag.'_

* * *

"Anything?"

Bumblebee shook his helm. The Bots were taking turns to do the nightshift, and Miles had promised to accompany him. Together, they glanced over at the screens, Miles relaxing on Bumblebee's shoulder. The monitors were now equiped not only with Autobot Spark-Detection, but Elite as well, via the help of Sam and Overcast. It was a few minutes before the yellow Autobot noticed it. A warp in the corner of the screen.

"Miles..."

"Yeah, I saw it too."

..." **SAM!" ":PRIME!:"**

* * *

Prime skidded out of his bedroom, not even bothering to throw on a shirt, grabbing the gun Will threw to him. A Con was on base and judging from the size of the spark, in holo-form. But he wasn't just anywhere. He was in Sam's apartment. In his bedroom.

If he had time to step back and process, he honestly would have been slightly frightened at the fury burning through him, but right now, he just didn't have _time_. It was nearly 3 AM, Sam would have been sleeping, vulnerable. The con could have done  _anything-_

'No.  _Concentrate.'_

"There's no point running in now, the Con's been there for Primus know how long, the human's probably already dea-"

Mirage went silent as Prime wheeled around and snarled at him, echoed by the other mechs and humans, rage pouring off his trembling form. But that's not what silenced him. The  _fear_  in his eyes...

Suddenly, Mirage felt like the air had been knocked out of him. He had been so concerned with 'best' for the Prime, he had never even stopped to  _consider_ what was right for Orion...

They sprinted out of Optimus's flat, crowding in a loose semi-circle around Sam's door. Optimus glanced back, taking in the firm stances of the Rangers and the other Bots, guns pointed towards the door and positioned ready to lunge forward. He reached out with one hand, only for the door to swing open.

"Do you  _have_  to put that at my throat?"

"Did you  _have_  to wake me up at 3AM with a knife at mine?"

"...Fair enough"

Optimus blinked, then blinked again. The holo's head was tipped back by slim fingers pulling its hair, a familiar gold dagger pressed across his throat.

"...Sam?"

The human's glanced away from the holo to look up at him, smiling brightly. "Hey, Orion."

Orion blinked again, then shook his head and snapped back into 'Prime' mode, barking commands to Ironhide and Sideswipe. The two holos moved forward to grab the Con by the arms and dragged him away from Sam, still blinking at him oddly. The moment they had, Orion practically transported himself to Sam's side, running his eyes over him, checking for any sort of injury. When he found none, he pulled the human into the safety of his arms and pressed his face into his hair, inhaling his faint lemon shampoo deeply. Sam dropped his dagger lightly and hugged him back, whispering comfort into his ear.

"I thought-"

"-I'm fine-"

"-You could of-"

"-But I'm not-"

"-He could have-"

"-He didn't-"

Skywarp narrowed his eyes at the two, shaking his head. Prime was acting...odd...

After a few minutes, Orion broke away, pressing a kiss against Sam's hair-not that Skywap could see-and spun to meet the Con's eyes, his own sharp and furious.

"Why did you come here?"

It was no joke that many Cons feared being captured by the Autobots. because Prime just had to give you this  _look-_

Everything spilled out in a matter of seconds.

"So,  _Starscream_  is the one who blew up the school." Hound's fists went white as he held Mikaela just a little tighter and Bumblebee gripped Miles's hand tightly. The muscle in Prime's jaw tightened and his crossed arms flexed slightly.

"But you don't want us to hurt him, because you think he's sick?"

"I know it's sounds insane, but  _please_  Prime.  _Please_  don't kill my brother! There's something...wrong with him! And not just him, the other Cons as well! Barricade can tell you!"

The mech in question nodded. "I don't know what it is, but some of them just seem..." now he shook it. "I don't know, Prime. But there's something  _wrong_."

Optimus looked away with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fine. Take him to the brig for further questioning and Ratchet, keep him in holo-form."

The three mechs nodded and went to move, only to pause when Skywarp spoke again. "Wait! I just need to know something!"

Rolling his eyes but much more relaxed than he was a few minutes earlier, Optimus nodded, frowning slightly when Skywarp's eyes went to Sam.

"Where the Pit did you pull that dagger from? One minute I had you against the wall-" Did Prime just  _growl_ at him? "-the next you had a dagger at my throat."

Sam shrugged lightly, grabbing the edge of his shirt, and suddenly Orion's eyes locked on the human, only now realising his state of dress. The soft white T-shirt was about three sizes too large and dwarfed the human, coming down to rest just above his knees and making him look shockingly dainty and fragile. The black shorts he wore underneath were dark enough  _just_  to been faintly seen under the bright light.

And that...was...all...

Sam pulled the shirt up his thigh a little and no, Orion was a Prime and he did  _not_  whimper inside his head as his human, completely innocent to the fact that the Prime a few feet away from his was literally doing everything he could not to lunge forward and pin the human against the wall and have his way with him, slid the dagger back into the leather holster there.

"You sleep with a dagger strapped to your leg?" Prowl tilted his head.

"You got cannons 24/7, I got my dagger."

Unlike Orion, however, Sam  _did_  noticed his lover's (He  _did not_  squeal in his head. He didn't!) state of dress from the moment he had turned to question Skywarp and was unbelievably thankful he had a wall to lean against because  _wow!._

More than once, he had to swallow and look away because the way the muscles across the holo's back rippled when he tensed was really damn distracting. It didn't help that Orion-being a Prime-had several markings that had followed him over to holo-form, so he had several jet-black glyphs that swirled across his back and the tops of his arms and more than once, Sam had got a brief flash of the taller male lying on his stomach while Sam traced them with his fingers...his lips...his tongue...

' _nononono bad thoughts bad thoughts'_

And now that the holo faced him head-on, giving the human a  _very_ nice view of the hard muscle that made up his stomach, the glyphs that swirled there, the etching on his spark-chamber, the hard jaw line...

He flicked his eyes up, meeting Orion's and surely he wasn't imagining the way his pupils were blown? Suddenly a lot braver, he smirked at him, raising an eyebrow challengingly.

"See something you like, Prime?" Nope, he definitely didn't imagine the way Orion's eyes darkened further.

"Prehaps, but I'd rather see much more." ' _Fuck'_ Sam tried not to let him see how affected he was by his voice, dark and deep and  _'fuck fuck fuck'_

"Well, if you keep being good, won't take that long' ' _Good Sam, don't let on how fucking aphrodisiac that voice is.'_

"But being good all the time is so  _tiring_ " Orion purred, eyes glued to Sam, his own sly smirk widening when, despite keeping his face and body language unmoving, Sam's eyes darkened at the sound of his voice.

Oh he was  _so_ going to use this.

"Well then, be bad and that might get you there faster." Oh that sounded simply  _fantastic_...

The other mechs were watching the interaction with amused expression, not showing the fact that inside their heads they were dancing and jumping about, because  _finally_ their brother was  _back_  and not only that, but he a freaking gorgeous mate who could more than certainly keep up with him...

Orion flicked his eyes away from Sam's for a split second to glance over at Skywarp, stiffening furiously when he realised the mech was staring at  **his**  human far too intently for the mech's own good.

* * *

Skywarp knew he was staring, but really, he never really had a problem with humans. There was even some quite fine specimens among the race, and this one with the bright eyes and metallic hair, who was only half-dressed in front of him...well, he was a Seeker, dammit! And it wasnt hard to remember how that lithe body felt pressed up against his...

In a blur of movement, Prime ( who knew Prime was such a flirt?) had cut into Skywarp's line of sight, took the human in his arms and kissed him.

...Hold up... _what?!_

Prime wrapped his arms around the human and dipped him, kissing him firmly. Thought the human wasn't exactly an unwilling participant. He automatically looped his arms around his neck and kissed him back, arching up. When they broke away, the human's lips were stained a dark red and his eyes were almost teasing as he whispered-

Hold on. Did the human just speak in the Language of Old?  _What?!_

Prime gave him a lop-sided smile and pulled him upright, both of them ignoring Epps's call of,

"HOLY CRAP I WON THE POT!"

"WHAT?"

"Aw,  _shit,_  man!"

"HELL YEAH DADDY'S GETTING A SET OF BITCHING BEATS!"

Skywarp also ignored this, eyes still locked on Prime and the human. As if feeling his gaze, Prime stiffened again, turning slightly to place himself in-between Skywarp and the human. When the Seeker still didn't turn away, the severely irritated Prime turned to face him head-on, eyes narrowed and lips drawing back slightly, barring his teeth with a low, dangerous growl, a clear warning.

_Mine_

Skywarp continued to stare at Prime for a click more, then let loose the foulest curses he could possibly think of in his head, all aimed at Mirage.

_SHIT! No-one said the human was Prime's Chosen!_


	34. Resurrect the Sun

"Well, I don't know about you lot, but I'm exhausted. Since there's nothing for me to do I'm heading back to bed."

"Just like that?" Thomas called with a laugh, "Getting attacked in the middle of the night is more of a minor annoyance than something to worry about?"

Sam rolled his eyes at him, his back pressed against Orion's chest and the Prime's arms locked around him. His hands rested on the human's stomach, and Sam absentmindedly played with his fingers as he shot back at the Ranger good-naturedly. "Man, when you've been wakened-up with a gun, knife or once, a crossbow," he shot a look at Miles, causing the blonde to whistle 'innocently', "as often as I have, the shock factor tends to wear off after awhile."

He trailed off with a yawn, covering his mouth with one of his hands. "What happened to going five days straight without sleep?" Miles grinned at him, laughing when the messy-haired teen stuck his tongue out at him and ignoring the practically hyperventilating Ratchet.

"This lot have spoilt me with eight hours sleep at night."

He grinned when Orion's lips brushed against the side of his neck, feeling the mech's smile. "Spoilt you?"

"Yep, with your good food and your safe work environment and the whole 'not going to stab you in the back' vibe."

"Oh I am  _so_  sorry, how terribly impolite of us, I'll make it my top priority to try and keep you on edge as often as possible in the future."

"Snarky"

Skywarp looked away from the shamelessly flirting males to stare at Barricade, who was about to head back to bed.

"How the Pit has Prime been able to hide the fact he's chosen somone?!" he hissed to the mech, eyebrows raised incredulously. Barricade glanced back with a shrug, a half smile lighting his face.

"Well, they've only been courting for a day..."

He turned back when Sam cleared his throat, ignoring the Con's incredulous gaze. The human glanced down at the floor, red tinting his cheeks. "So guys uh...Thanks. For coming to help..."

"Don't worry about it, kid." Will's eyes were soft, hiding the anger that coursed through him at how suprised the kid had been that they had actually shown up to help him. ' _If I ever get my hands on those damn Elites...'_

"Okay..." Still unsure with the situation, Sam turned, give Orion a soft kiss then, slipped back into his apartment. One by one the others followed suit, bar Ratchet, Ironhide, Sideswipe and Optimus, who brought Skywarp to the brig.

* * *

_"Hello, Sam."_

_Sam stared at Ally, mouth open slightly. She smiled back at him, bright white hair coiled into a knot at the nape of her neck. The soft blue jumper hung off her shoulders and she was sitting crossed-legged, clad in light grey sweat-pants and barefoot. The human blinked a few times, then reached out one trembling hand to touch her cheek. In the next second she was holding him tightly as he sobbed apologies into her shoulder, begging his second-mother for forgiveness. The human-form of the Allspark ran her fingers through his hair, soothing him. After a few moments he drew back, wide-eyed._

_"How...how are you alive?"_

_"I'm not dead, Sam. I'm...everywhere."_

_"What?"_

_"When my physical form fused with the Corrupted One, it was destroyed, but I was scattered. I am in everything, Sam. Every flower, every star, every atom. But when_   ** _you_** _call for me, I am pulled together. You are my vessel."_

_"Why me?"_

_"It was always you. Originally, not quite like this. You were not meant to have any sort of control until you had matured well into your early thirties. But after what happened with your parents and your training..." She let the sentence hang mid-air, sighing as she gazed into the eyes that were far too old for the face they looked from, "You reached maturity far sooner than we planned."_

_"We?"_

_He clutched his head as several images flew through his head, of six figures bathed in golden light, their faces blurred and identities hidden. As quickly as the images came, they were gone._

_Ally shook her head. "Not yet, my champion. Not yet"_

_Pushing away his confusion, Sam looked away, eyes downcast. "You still haven't answered me. Why. Me?"_

_Ally shook her head, tilting it like a curious puppy. "I don't understand..."_

_Sam pushed himself off the ground and paced, feet bare against the green grass. "Why me? Of all the people on the planet, why me? Why was I chosen? Why not Will, the solider who would die for his men, the father who adores his daughter and the beloved of the Warrior? Or Mikaela, who has done nothing to taint her soul? Why me, the murder and liar?" His pace increased and the blue flame Ally had so often seen when he spoke of those he hated started to burn in his eyes again, aimed inwards. "I've cheated and killed. I've lied and hurt those I care most about. And yet you chose_ _**me** _ _as a vessel?"_

_"No, Sam, you misunderstand-"_

_"-Misunderstand?! Ally, I'm twisted and tainted-"_

_"-No-"_

_"-Yes!" He hissed, eyes flashing. "I'm broken and twisted. Anything good in me was tainted long ago. You've made a mistake. I'm not worthy to have the title as your 'Champion'. Give it to someone else."_

_"Sam, your soul is pure-"_

_"Pure?!" He barked out a laugh. "My soul may be a lot of things, but pure certainly isn't one of them."_

_"Why are you so_ _**blind** _ _to what you are?"_

_He threw his arms open. "And_ _**what** _ _exactly am I, Ally?"_

_"You are a_ _**good** _ _person who_ _**terrible** _ _things have happened to. You are my son in every sense of the word. You are my champion."_

_He looked away with a humorless laugh, shaking his head. She sighed and quickly stood, darted forwards and placed her hand against his forehead._

_It was like someone was forcing thousands of images into his head at once. They flew past too quickly for him to annalyse, but there was a few re-occurring images that he couldn't shake._

**_Years of darkness, then a burst of light. Betrayal that burned a hole in his heart. Bright blue eyes that looked back at him with overwhelming love. Other eyes, always the same, swearing loyalty and kin. Pain and War, with lulls of peace. Bright green eyes that looked up at him with love and awe. Then shock and hope but just too soon, darkness. Over and over and over._ **

_He stumbled back with a cry, falling to his knees and gasping for air. Immediately Ally knelt beside him, placing a reassuring hand on his back._

_"What...was...that?" He choked out, shaking his head. She smiled softly at him in response._

_"Do you truly think that this is the first time you have walked this path? Have you never questioned how easily you fit into place among those you live with? How easily you slipped into Hunter's arms?"_

_Hunter._

_Esau. Wilder. Roe. Jaeger. Caine. Cocidius. Thimba. A thousand more names, a thousand more faces, a thousand more lives, but always the same._

_Bright blue eyes, warm smiles, hands that fitted perfectly with his, embraces that felt so safe and a warmth that never faded._

**_Orion_ **

_"_ _**What?!"** _

_"You have lived a thousand lives, my champion, my shining star. This is merely another in a long line."_

_"I don't understand."_

_"You won't. Not for a while. You still have much to learn, much to pass on to your Prime. But not yet, not until your form can handle it."_

_"Such as?"_

_She smiled at him, eyes dancing. "That's a story for another day."_

_"That's just mean."_

_"Indeed. Now, it's time to wake up and forget." She reached out, only for Sam to jerk back. "Wait, forget?"_

_"This is information that still needs to be hidden. If you remember, it will trigger other memories which would lead to thousands of memories from thousands of lives all flying back at once, which would more than likely lead to either your death or leave you in a total paralytic state."_

_"Oh. Not good then?"_

_"No, not good."_

_"Okay...but first...is it possible to send a message to two mechs?"_

_Ally quirked an eyebrow in curiosity. "Why would you need to?"_

_"It's Sideswipe. His mates have been separated from him for too long, and it's killing him. He only has months left, surely there's some way to contact them?"_

_Ally stared at him, then shook her head, laughing softly under her breath. Sam bristled, defensive walls springing back into place._

_"What's so funny?"_

_"You are so sure that you are a monster, my champion. Yet you try to help one of another race without ever receiving thanks."_

_Sam ignored this, keeping to the point. "Can you do it?"_

_Ally smiled at him, and snapped her fingers. "Done. Now, forget."_

* * *

Sam's eyes snapped open and he jerked up, blanket twisted around his legs. He shook his head a few times, trying to remember the dream he had just had, but it slipped away like water through his fingers.

"...weird dream..."

* * *

Optimus rubbed the side of his temple, trying to counter the headache that was forming there. He, accompanied by Ironhide and Sideswipe, were still questioning Skywarp, who was remaining tight-lipped on who exactly had gave him the coordinates to the Base. The brig was the Hanger Jazz had been 'laid to rest in', re-formatted by Wheeljack. Bright blue light formed a square around Skywarp's Alt-Mode, and another around the holo that was sitting crossed-legged and silent.

 _Damn_ , he needed caffeine and food. Other than half a cup of coffee early on in the morning, Optimus had had nothing else to eat or drink, much to the annoyance of the other mechs who had just returned from getting food at his insistence. But between going from meeting to meeting, questioning Skywarp and scanning for sparks, he had no time whatsoever. He ran his hand over his eyes, shaking his head, absentmindedly imagining sitting on the couch in his apartment eating, with Sam under his arm and Quickfire coloring something on the floor-

A giggle sounded behind him and he spun to stare at the two figures coming in the door. Quickfire carefully carried what looked like a plate covered in Aluminium foil while Sam walked with her, two cups of coffee stacked on top of each other. She carefully set it in an empty space on the quite cluttered desk and wrapped her arms around his leg, hugging it tightly.

"Hiya, Op'mus!"

The surprised mech let out a soft laugh and scooped her up to settle on his hip, pressing a kiss against her helm. Out of the corner of his eye, Sideswipe saw Sam look over at the two as he set one of the coffee cups down, an achingly soft look in his eyes.

"What are you doing here?"

"We broughts you food cause Sam said you were gonna be busy and would be a silly-billy and not get any by yourself!"

Orion glanced over at Sam who calmly met his eyes, shrugging. "You said yesterday you were swamped all day with meetings, and you're too polite to ask which gods-only-know ambassador to hold up for ten minutes."

Orion blinked, touched that Sam had actually bothered to remember what he had said. "You didn't have to-"

The human stepped forward and lay his hand against his arm. "I wanted to."

Orion swallowed, unexpectedly thrown by a situation he hadn't experienced from the earliest days of the war. Sensing his hesitation, the human pressed a kiss against his cheek and his eyes became teasing as they landed on Quickfire. "Besides, someone refused to nap before saying 'good afternoon'."

Orion let out a laugh as he looked over at Quickfire. "Is that so?"

"I'm not tired, Uncle Op'mus!"

"You still need you're sleep, little one."

"But naps are icky!"

"They're good for you, so you don't get cranky later."

"Then Mirage should take a nap so he stops being cranky!"

Ironhide and Sideswipe spun, covering their mouths to stop their laughter from escaping at the stubborn and sharp-minded little femme.

"Quickfire," Sam gently admonished, soft warning in his tone which the femme immediately sighed at. He very rarely had to use that tone with her, but when he did it was firm. "You know that wasn't very nice."

She huffed and pouted, but grudgingly admitted, "I know. But he's always so cranky!"

Orion sighed a little, "Mirage just needs time to adapt, little one. This planet is very different from the one he is used to."

"Doesn't mean he should be cranky at everyone!"

Sideswipe nudged Ironhide and gestured over to the trio. "Adorable, aren't they?"

The Warrior glanced over, taking in the way Quickfire had her head resting on Orion's shoulder, the way Sam was smiling at her with his fingers threaded through Orion's and how Orion was glancing down at both of them, for the first time in a long time looking completely happy. They already looked like a tiny family and damn if it didn't make the Warrior's spark swell with pride.

"Yeah, adorable."

* * *

A few hours later Sam was in the gym, stretching to work out the kinks that haunted many an Elite. Quickly powdering his hands, he took a few steps back before launching upwards, grabbing the vertical bar of the high-bar and swinging himself upright. He twisted and swung, letting go of the bar mid-air and somersaulting, grabbing the bar and swapping hands with a twist. Despite himself, he grinned at the familiar feeling of being so weightless that it seemed he could just let go and fly. Finally, after a few more minutes he threw himself upwards, somersaulting several times and landing silently on the balls of his feet with a grin.

* * *

Mirage peered through the crack of the door, eyes narrowed on the human. Sam raised his hands above his head and stretched, muscles pulling taut under his black shirt. The holo's eyes dropped down to then gleaming blade in his hand and not for the the first time questioned his plan.

' _...Can I really do this?'_

Then that voice, that smooth and convincing voice whispered again. " _You must...that thing, that_ _ **insect**_ _will destroy everything you care for."_

' _But_   _he saved my brother-'_

_"Yes, but why? Why would he save what is to him an alien? Uness he wants leverage. The power that he can call to him, who's to say he will use it for good?"_

_'But Prime-'_

_"Prime couldn't see his own_ _**brother** _ _fall into darkness. Who's to say he won't see this either, until that pretty little human drives his knife into his spark?"_

_'So...so I'll be protecting them?'_

_"Of course...besides, with that_ _**thing** _ _alive, your brother's little sparkling might even be at risk..."_

_'_ _**NO!** _ _'_

_"Then_ _**ACT!** _ _"_

* * *

"Much happening Prowl?"

Prowl looked up at his bonded and shook his head, servo resting over his spark. The sparkling was almost ready to be 'birthed', Prowl being one of the Neutral frame types which only nurtured a spark, but could not create an actual frame. In a few days, Ratchet would remove the spark and put it in the small frame, after which the lose metal which would be placed surrounding it would be pulled onto the frame via the new-spark's will.

Jazz brushed his servo across his shoulders, glancing at the mass amount of screens which Prowl was watching, snapshots of Base on the walls. His optics narrowed on the gym, tilting his helm at Sam's final landing.

"Damn, kids pretty goo-"

He swore violently as his brother appeared at the door, knife hidden behind his back.

* * *

"Hello, Samuel."

Sam spun around to see Mirage at the door, straightening when he saw the holo's hands behind his back. It could be nothing...but his training kicked into place.

"Mirage." He acknowledged with a nod, eyes darting to the door quickly. "What brings you here?"

"You."

The hairs on the back of Sam's neck rose. "Me?"

"You really have everyone fooled, don't you?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

Mirage smiled, viscous and dark. "You walk about with your illusion of self-hate and rage towards your kin. But it's a lie."

"Mirage, I don't know who you've been talking to-"

"I haven't been talking to anyone! I  _see_  the truth!"

"What truth?"

Mirage's head snapped to the right and his lips moved quickly, as if he was speaking to someone. Then he nodded and his head snapped back as he convulsed, dropping to the ground.

" _SHIT!"_ Sam sprinted forward, skidding to the ground beside the convulsing mech. Stripping off his shirt, he rolled it up and put it under his head to stop his from banging his head on the ground. Just when Sam was about to curse himself for leaving his PADD halfway across the room, Miles walked in with headphones on, mouthing the lyrics and stopping dead when he saw the two.

" _GET RATCHET!"_

The blonde nodded and sprinted off, leaving his brother alone with Mirage. The human brushed a piece of hair off the holo's forehead, frowning at the pained crease there.

"You're going to be okay, Mirage," he mummered, "I promise."

The holo went still, then his eyes shot open, displaying vivid crimson iris. "Yes." The voice that spoke was not Mirage's, it was cold and smooth and for some terrifying reason Sam felt like he had heard it before. "Yes I am."

* * *

" _RACHET!"_

The mech jumped, looking away from Optimus and down at Miles with a frown. "Miles? What-"

"It's Mirage," the blonde panted, swallowing harshly. "His holo was, I don't know, convulsing or something! Sam's with him but he needs help."

" _FRAG!"_

_"PRIME!"_

Jazz skidded in, visor withdrawn for once and optic's burning. "Jazz?"

"It's Mirage-"

"Yes," Optimus tired to sooth the mech, putting his hand on his shoulder. "We know. We're going to check on him now and Ratchet will find out what's wrong-"

"What are you talking about?!" The mech demanded. "Prime, he's with Sam in the trainning room  _and he has a knife!"_

Optimus stared at him for a second, then he was transforming and sprinting after the medic, spark screaming in his ears.

* * *

Sam managed to pull himself out of the holo's grip on his neck and stumbled back, hand flashing up to Mirage's hand from completing its arc and slicing the blade into his shoulder. The dark haired holo-form snarled and pulled his wrist free and launched forward again. Sam met him bow for blow, smacking the blade from his hand and dropping to kick his feet out from underneath him. The mech hit the ground with a thud, but immediately flipped himself backwards and onto his feet again. He leaped forward again and Sam twisted out of the way, catching him by the back of the shirt and throwing him back. The holo gave a cry of fury and swung at him, causing Sam to avoid the first swing but unable to move away from the second. While the human was momentarily dazed, Mirage swiped the blade off the ground and slashed at him, only for the human flip backwards.

"Don't try to fight me, little insect. You have no idea who I am."

"You're not Mirage, I know that much. What have you done to him?" Sam snarled, ducking the holo's next swing and, with a stab of guilt, grabbing the fist flying towards his face and responding with his own. The holo stumbled back at his blow, wiping the energon from his lip away with a twisted laugh.

"Oh, the fool is fine. Just watching this happen and banging against the walls, unable to stop this. Poor thing was just trying to keep his little family safe from you."

"Why me?" He twisted out of the way, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "What have I  _ever_  done to you?!"

"Nothing. But you have something we want. The power. The Allspark." He said it with the same devotion Orion had, but there was something so much darker running through it. "We can't get it when it's tied to you. But with you gone, it will be free for us to claim. Really, child, you're just collateral damage. We need to claim it now, before  _he_  wakes again."

"Who?"

Sam's question went unanswered as the holo shot forwards again with blinding speed, hitting him so hard across the face and in the stomach, then crashing his elbow down on Sam's back hard enough to drop him to the ground, unconscious. The holo bent down and scooped the blade up, spinning it in his hand and slicing downwards-

Only for a furious blur to slam into him and sending the blade spinning across the floor. The thing possessing Mirage got to his feet and dusted himself down, tilting his head at the livid holo of Orion Pax standing protectively in front of the fallen human. He sighed, then lunged forward, the two holo's meeting with a barred teeth. They weaved through eachother, trying to get the upper-hand on the other. The holo's finally caught Orion across the face, making him stumble and in that split second, he grabbed the knife and slashed his across the stomach.

Jazz made a strangled sound and Miles moved to leap forward only to be caught by Ratchet, the older mech knowing the blonde had little chance if Prime had been taken down so quickly.

As Orion choked, Sam's eyes snapped open.

Electric blue instantly bled out across the white shirt and automatically he moved to cover it, leaving his side open for 'Mirage' to slam his fist into and crumpling him, causing him to slid down the wall The holo leaned down to Orion's level and smirked.

"You forget, dear Prime, that you may find rest in this form, but it only leaves oh so much more vulnerable. Die in this form, unable to return to your true form, caught between the two in the closet comparison to Hell-"

The holo was flung aside with a surprised noise as Sam slammed into with a furious, inhuman snarl. Ignoring the holo for a moment, he dropped to his knees beside Orion, placing one hand against the wound and the other against his cheek. Not leaving Orion's eyes he screamed for Ally in his head, trying to call to her from beyond the veil for help, guidance-

And then it was there, overpowering fire that sent electric symbols dancing across his skin and eyes and that strange blue dense gas from his fingers. It bled out, swirling over the gash and with a warmth like a Carrier's touch, sealing it.

The holo got to his feet unsteadily, staring at the two males. "Impossible..." he breathed, shaking his head. "It..you can't be..."

Both Sam and Orion closed their eyes, and then opened them again. They glanced over at their three frozen friends in the corner, who stared in shock.

They were Sam and Orion, but at the same time they weren't. Their eyes were different, older and more pained than they had ever seen them, like a solider's who had fought a thousand wars.

Taking the hand offered, the-one-who-was-but-wasn't Orion stood beside the-one-who-was-but-wasn't Sam, his arm wrapped around his waist as they turned to face the holo.

"But...You can't be. Not now, not yet."

They shook their head's as one as they stared him down. "Go back to your little friends, Rahab." 'Orion' ordered, voice firm, "And tell them, we will find them. And," He glanced down at 'Sam', pulling him closer to him and pressing as kiss against his forehead as he answered, voice low but with a firm chill that sent shivers down the spines of the others in the room "I will  _not_  let history be repeated once more."

'Sam' raised his hand and clenched it into a fist and Mirage chocked, energon spilling out of the corner's of his mouth. He withered, a strange shrieking being pulled from his throat and his body convulsed twice before letting out one more strangled cry. He sank to his knees, then he slowly brought his head back up to stare at the two, bright blue eyes lost and horrified.

'Sam''s legs gave out beneath him and 'Orion' caught him, gently sinking to the floor with 'Sam' in his arms, rocking him and whispering to him in a language none of the room had ever heard before, one that sounded more like music than words. He brushed his hair from his face and pressed another kiss against his forehead before looking up, meeting the eyes of the others in the room.

"Please." It was an agonized whisper, a plea to them. "I know you don't know me, not yourselves, not yet. But  _please_  stop history from being repeated again. Please do not make me loose him once more."

Ratchet swallowed at the fear and pain in his voice. This soul talking to him, he may not be exactly like Orion, but he  _was_ him, if that made any sense. The medic shook his head. "We won't."

"Thank you, Aesculapius. Please make sure you tell neither of us what we just did." He glanced back at the sleeping human in his arms, shaking his head. "The longer we forget, the further these events can be delayed and the safer he is."

That simple phrase solified Mile's loyalty and he nodded along with Jazz.

The name the male had called him sent a shiver down the Medic's spine, like someone had just walked over his grave. Before he could question him further, he leaned down to place his lips at the sleeping form's ear and whispered one last promise in his ear, a parting oath that was as quite as a breath.

"Until the stars stop turning and for eternity afterwards, my Love."

He kissed his cheek then pressed his forehead to 'Sam's'. Then the holo shuddered and his head jerked, staring down at Sam and then back up to Ratchet, eyes wide and frantic and Orion's once more.

"Ratchet! What happened?! What's wrong with Sam?!"

* * *

"And you're telling me you remember...nothing?"

The two leaders shook their heads honestly. "I remember trying to heal Orion but then nothing. The next thing I see is Med-bay's ceiling." Sam admitted from his spot on Orion shoulder. Orion nodded also, lightly touching Sam's cheek with his finger and smiling lightly when the human pressed a kiss against it.

"It's the same for me. One click I'm looking at Sam who is starting to heal me, the next second he's unconscious in my arms and you four look like you had all seen Imprints."

"Imprints?" Mikaela couldn't help but question from her spot in Hounds hand, legs crossed like a Native North American.

"Ghosts." Bumblebee supplied offhandedly, distracted by the two leaders. There was something different about them, he just couldn't figure it out. Something...older about them.

He was took away from that thought when Ironhide and Sideswipe entered, Mirage close behind. The moment the mech saw the two, he dropped to his knees and barred his neck in submission.

"I almost took your lives, and I offer my own in atonement."

Both shook their heads. "No, Mirage," Optimus's voice was soft and understanding and made the mech want to curl up with guilt, "what happened was not your fault."

"It was processor glitch." Sam picked up, eyes soft and forgiving, "It was out of your servos. There's nothing you could have done to stop yourself, and so there is nothing to forgive."

"But-"

The Mech was silenced by the sharp looks he received from Jazz, Ratchet and Miles. If he said anything that might trigger what ever it was that changed the two...

Let's just say, none of them like the way 'Orion' had pleaded with them.

So Mirage nodded and was dismissed with a smile and a nod and then everyone left, back into 'normal' life. And the four tried not to worry about what else was out there, what was so bad that reduced the soul who wasn't-yet-was the Prime who is fearless against Decepticons to a terrified lover holding his love like he was going to be torn from his arms.

Again.

* * *

_**A few weeks later, Orion's** _ **_apartment_ **

Quickfire was almost recharging on Sam's lap, optics half-shuttered as the last few minutes of The Lion King played. Sam smiled softly down at her, blinking away his own tiredness and shifting the blanket Orion had draped across her when he had to leave for an emergency meeting (with a fervent apology and a soothing reply from the human) over her shoulders. She curled into him, mumbling something under her breath. Biting his lip, Sam leaned down too drift a kiss against her helm, swallowing a lump that had suddenly risen in his throat. Over the last few months, how he felt towards the little femme had changed. She no longer was like a little sister he had had when he was ten. He no longer was content with letting her watch TV all day, instead wanted to make sure she was learning all she could from the older bots. He didn't like the thought of her recharging so far away from him, in case she had a nightmare in the middle of the night and he wasn't there to make it better. Hell, he freaked the last time she had fallen over and scraped her knee. No, Quickfire wasn't his little sister anymore, something he had accepted really from the moment he had found her again.

He was seventeen and he had a four year old daughter.

"Sam?" snapped out of his thoughts he glanced down at her again, furrowing his forehead when she wouldn't look him in the eye.

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"You don't look after me like how Sony does Sonic. You look after me like how Uncle Will does for Annie, or Bee and Miles do for SwiftWing and SkyLight, or Uncle Sideswipe does for Sony and Sonic."

"What's going on, Sweetie?"

"Sam...you know how I don't have any Creators? Could...could you be my creator? Could I call you daddy?"

Sam's lips parted in shock and he swallowed thickly, blinking back the tears that suddenly blurred his vision. "Sweetie, you can call me whatever you want."

Quickfire sighed and cuddled into him some more, one tiny servo reaching up to hold Sam's hand. "Thank you, daddy."

After a few minutes she spoke up again, just as Orion, back from his meeting, slipped in the door. "And Uncle Opt'mus...would he be mad if I asked him if I could call him Generator?"

He froze a few steps away from the couch, staring down at Quickfire with wide eyes. Sam looked over his shoulder at him, smiling softly at the vulnerability and hope there, swirling amoung the disbeief. After shaking his head, Orion moved as quickly as lightning to kneel down in front of her and Sam, pressing a kiss against her helm.

"I would be honoured, my sparkling."

The little femme smiled and dropped into recharge again, completely unaware of the effect she had on the two. Orion continued to gaze at her for a few more seconds, then got up and sat beside Sam on the couch, lifting her up slightly so she was sprawled across both of them. He tilted Sam's chin up with one hand and kissed him, long and slow and as easy as breathing. When they parted Sam smiled up at him, then moved to rest his head on his shoulder. Orion wrapped his arm around him and brushed his hand against Quickfire's helm, biting his lip.

Less than six human months ago he was fighting a war that seemed endless and the only peace he would ever have would be the day a Con pushed just a bit harder.

Now the war was over, he had a beautiful, smart and loving Chosen _,_ an adorable sparkling he could call his own and allies he would trust his spark with.

Life was  _perfect_

(For now.)


	35. Sempiternal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I WROTE THE SMUT  
> THE SMUT IS WRITTEN  
> IT TOOK ME HOURS BUT I DID IT

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends I am still alive. And I wrote the smut! The smut exists! It took like six hours because everytime I wrote a sentence I rolled around going 'noOOOooo its cheeeeeeesy' but it is finished (At 1.54 AM)! It is also my first so please be kind <3

Sam stretched out on the soft picnic blanket, hands behind his head and knee propped up. Due to the addicting warmth of the sunlight, the Autobots and their allies had taken to eating lunch and talking outside, the warm golden sunlight warming aching bones and dissolving hidden worries. And since it was technically a holiday for the humans, the base was wound down and the Allies had claimed a patch of grass outside the hanger.

They were all piled out there, Ironhide catching a candy Will had chucked at him with his mouth, Annabelle squealing on his lap as Freeze giggled; Bee draped over Miles, half-asleep as their twins played with Sideswipe's twins; Sideswipe chatting to Ratchet and Wheeljack, who debated with O'Neil and Epps about testing out a few harmless pieces of Autobot technology. Mikaela was gently strumming a few songs on her guitar, Miles and Sam joining in to sing a few bars every now and then (much to the delight of their partners, so unused to hearing their love's sing so freely). Sam's sketchpad lay abandoned beside him, a strange, almost alien castle-like structure stretching across the open page. Quickfire was colouring beside him, propped up on her elbows and staring at something beside the hanger door.

"Daddy?" Quickfire whispered to Sam, optics bright with curiosity.

"Yes, baby?"

"Why is Uncle Jazz holding Osmium like Rafiki holds Simba?"

The human sat up and glanced over at Jazz, the holo cowering away from Optimus and holding out his five month old sparkling like a shield, Osmium gurgling and smiling at his uncle. The Prime had his arms crossed and looked for all the world to be furious, but even through his sunglasses Sam could see the humour in his eyes and the tiny twitch in the corner of his mouth as the smile he was suppressing tried to break free.

"Because he disobeyed generator's orders, baby."

"What did he do?"

"He got himself a few speeding tickets."

Bee winced at that. Optimus didn't have that many rules, but two of the top five were not to draw attention to yourself and to follow all the human speeding laws. "A 'few'?"

"A few...dozen."

"Damn."

After a stern reprimand the Prime returned to the group, brushing his fingertips over Quickfire's helm and a kiss against Sam's lips. He stretched, not noticing Sam lift his sunglasses to get a better look as his shirt rode up slightly, the human dampening his lip at the sight of the hard, tanned muscle. Still oblivious, the mech lay down on his back beside him and placing his head on the human's lap. Automatically, Sam put his fingers to either side of the holo's forehead and massaged in slow, small circles. The tension in Orion's temples gradually decreased and the Prime sighed softly, a mummer of appreciation drawn out of his lips as he drifted into a light doze. Sam leaned back down himself and closed his eyes, basking in the warm sunlight. Despite himself, his mind drifted as he imagined seeing  _all_  of the holo, and the holo seeing  _all_  of him. His day-dreams ground to a halt as it hit him like a brick wall.

He  _liked_ that idea. For the first time, it didn't fill him with uncertainty or apprehension. The idea of giving himself to Orion in a way he thought would never be possible due to the tainted memories-

It seemed right. Not warped and spoiled; Easy and pure-just two beings that wanted to show their love for each other.

Of course, he was again pulled out of that thought quickly, this time by his daughter's excited and pleading voice.

"Daddy, can I go play with Chatter and Megabite? Frenzy and Jolt's coming too!"

Sam's flicked his glasses up, looking up into Quickfire's pleading face. Frenzy and Jolt stood behind her, the two 'eight year old's' puffing up proudly. Barricade and Fig stood behind both of them, sharing a smile with Sam as the holo placed a scarred hand on Frenzy's shoulder. The little youngling still looked a little under the weather from his recent sickness; his optics just a tad duller than usual. The parents shared  _that_  look, Barricade wordlessly assuring him that he would be supervising them and have Quickfire back before lunch at 3. Sam nodded with a smile, grinning wider when Quickfire squealed and hugged him before skipping off with the two mechs, the two elders following with low laughs.

He shook his head as he watched them skip off, tilting his head to say something to Mikaela and Hound when he froze, eyes narrowing in on the man standing beside the hanger door. It was one of Will's soldiers, dressed in green camouflaged pants and a simple black T-Shirt. There was nothing out of the ordinary about him, just your average solider with short dark hair, but the moment they locked eyes the Unspeakable's instincts  _screamed._  He sat up, careful not to jolt Orion awake as he attempted to get a better look at him. They held eye contact for a long moment until the solider smirked and walked off. The tension in the Unspeakable's back didn't release until Orion shifted, cracking open sleepy blue eyes.

"Darlin'? What's wrong?"

The Unspeakable seemed to shake himself and he smiled down at him, smoothing away the worried crease in his forehead with the pad of his thumb. "Nothing Sweetheart, don't worry about it. Just being silly."

The holo blinked sleepily, eyes heavy "You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Alright..." his eyes slid shut and his breathing evened out again. Sam kissed his forehead, flicking his eyes up to watch the solider round the corner and disappear from his line of sight. When he had done so, the eighteen-year-old lay down again, determinedly turning his mind to more pleasant things.

* * *

**_Sam's birthday, days previous_ **

_They sat on Orion's bed, crossed legged and facing each other. Over the last few weeks Sam had taken to sleeping with Orion, claiming with an embarrassed blush that being in the mech's arms at night kept away nightmares. Orion had admitted feeling the same and so the two falling asleep together became the norm, not the unusual. In fact, they had practically moved in together. Of course, it went no further than falling asleep intertwined, Sam still hesitant and Orion would rather cut off his own servos than touch Sam in a way that would make him uncomfortable. They had moved on quite a bit from just stealing kisses, however, and with each day Sam felt more and more protected and **loved** by the mech, and the thought of being  **completely**  claimed by the mech was slowly beginning to look more and more appealing._

_After spending the night in Fiddler's Green at a surprise party for Sam, the two had quickly got ready for bed and Orion had built up the courage to give Sam his **real**  present. Sam shook his head when he was handed the box, looking up at the mech with a soft smile._

_"You already got me a present-"_

_Orion discarded the sketching supplies with a shake of his head. "This is my **real**  one, Darlin'."_

_The human opened the box slowly, his breath catching in his throat. The silver of the necklace shone in the soft glow of the light on the bedside table, intricate strands of silver twisting around the pale stone which looked like it had gases of different colours frozen inside it. The strands twisted in loops at the top of the stone and it hung from a thin black cord. Sam touched it with a trembling finger, mouth parted in a soft 'o'. Orion worried his lip, unable to gauge Sam's reaction due to his fringe covering his eyes._

_"Do you know what this symbolizes?" Sam's voice was soft and even, no hint of his own emotions bleeding through. Orion swallowed and nodded as he answered._

_"I spoke to Miles. It's the Elites' version of the promise ring. They exchange their necklaces, their only form of identity. So, I had this made into a necklace. It's a stone from Cybertron, an Astrum. A star-stone. We get them when we reach maturity, and we give them to our lovers who we wish to promise ourselves to. It's the closest thing I have to home, and I would be honoured if you wore it."_

_Sam bit his lip, then darted forward, holding the box tightly in one hand and placing the other on the back of Orion's neck. He pressed his lips against Orion's and moved them demandingly, the holo instantly reciprocating. He coaxed Sam's lips open and deepened the kiss, the human's hand leaving the box to grip his shoulder tightly with a muffled gasp. Orion's skin on fire from where Sam touched, his hands jumped to on his human's waist and pulled him towards him, lifting him so he straddled his lap, Sam now the one tilting his head down to kiss him. Before he completely lost control, Orion pulled his lips away, his voice ragged._

_"Will you wear it?"_

_"Yes. Yes yes yes yes yes"_

_With each 'yes', Sam kissed somewhere different on his face-his forehead; his cheeks; his nose; his eye lids-sending fire blazing though him and his spark dancing. He kissed Sam hard on the lips again, whispering a fervent chant of "Mine"._

_To which the human could only reply "Yours" breathlessly. When the fire had simmered down to a bone-deep warmth, they parted with two uneven sighs, resting their foreheads against each others. Sam unclasped his own necklace, pulling away to look Orion in the eye. He smiled back at him, pushing his hair back slightly for Sam to carefully clasp the necklace around his neck, the silver lightning bolt with Sam's name on the back winking in the light. Orion lifted his necklace out of the box, slipping it over Sam's head and securing it around his neck, the stone nestled in the space between his collar bones. He traced his finger across in lightly and locked eyes with Sam again, smiling brilliantly with wonder-filled eyes._

* * *

**_Orion’s apartment, bedtime_ **

 Their books were abandoned on the table by Orion’s couch, discarded when Sam had gotten tired of pretending to read and pulled the mech on top of him. Things quickly descended into the mech pressing Sam into the couch, drawing out laughs from the human as his fingers found his highly-guarded ticklish points.  He fluttered his fingers across the back of Sam’s knee, muffling his laughter when the human shrieked.

“ _Orion!”_

The Prime grinned as he was drawn up to his promised’s lips again, the human under him arching against him as his stubble lightly scratched across the long line of his throat. Sam dove into the kiss, giggling when the holo groaned as he pressed up against the hard body earned from battle. Orion broke the kiss to trail his lips down the side of Sam’s neck as he laughed breathlessly, the fingers buried in the holo’s thick hair tightening as the Prime lightly dragged his teeth against the elite’s pulse point, humming against the fluttering beat.

“Orion?”

The Prime smiled as he met his promised’s bright eyes, dipping down to brush their noses gently against each other’s. “Yeah, darlin’?”

Sam bit his lip before he leaned up, lips ghosting over the holo’s ear.

_That_ got the Prime’s attention. He pulled back, tilting his head to meet his promised’s eyes, his own going wide at what he found there. “ _Oh_. Oh? Really? You’re sure?” He smiled as Sam laughed and nodded quickly, blush following the sun-given freckles brushed across the bridge of his nose.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” He smiled back at the Prime and and wriggled out from underneath the Prime, biting back a laugh as the mech rose to his feet and followed with only a simple tug.

They stumbled into the room together, fumbling through the room only dimly lit by the Prime’s bedside light, both laughing as they stole kisses from each other on their journey. Stretching up on his tiptoes, Sam sealed his lips over Orion’s, sighing as he wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him flush against him.

They spent long minutes like that, their kisses gentle and slow, punctured by a laugh every now and then from the pair before Sam finally broke off altogether to mouth along Orion’s neck, lips tracing the glyphs across his collarbones as he quickly unbuttoned his white shirt and dragged his fingers down the hard lines of his chest. They danced across the waist of his jeans and Sam grinned against Orion’s neck as he played with the button before popping it open, slowly sliding down the zipper. Orion groaned, rocking against Sam’s hand as it slipped into his jeans, thumb slowly stroking down his hard length.

“ _Frag_ , Sam’” Orion grit his teeth, pupils blown as Sam stepped away and allowed him to shake off his shirt and step out of his jeans before turning his attention back to his panting promised. He dropped to his knees and kept his wild eyes locked with Sam’s as his rough hands gently grasped the bottom of Sam’s shirt. He made short work of the buttons, mouthing against each new piece of bared skin, flinging the material behind him somewhere and echoing Sam’s delighted chuckle. Before Sam could react he scoped him up, smirking smugly when Sam squeaked and yanked his head down in retaliation, lips hot and hungry.

Orion lay him down, his head falling back against the emerald pillows and legs falling open for the Prime to settle between. Hot hands slid down Sam’s side, lips blazed a trail down his tight stomach until they skimmed across the top of his sweats. Orion’s eyes met Sam’s, dark and soft as he ran his fingers through the holo’s hair, smile softening into something small, shy. Pressing a gentle kiss against the inside of his promised’s wrist Orion dragged down the sweats before he crawled up the bed again, leaving his promised in only his underwear and his astrum necklace.

Orion hovered above Sam, letting his head be guided down by his human and into a kiss, slim fingers curling around the holo’s bicep as the kiss deepened. Instinctively Orion’s hips dipped against Sam’s as he arched up, grinding against him in maddening circles, swallowing the human’s groans. Their kiss broke with a gasp and Orion forced himself still as Sam mumbled against his jaw,

“ _More, **please**_ ”

“Darlin’.” He waited until Sam met his gaze, biting back a groan as the desire coursing through his veins reflected in the human’s beatific eyes. “Are you sure? We don’t- _Primus, Sam!-_ We don’t have to go any further.”

Sam stilled, tilted his head slightly with an expression that could only be called searching. His eyes flit across the Prime’s face, darting to the corded muscle in his arms and stomach which strained against his spark’s carnal desires. “We don’t, do we?” Orion’s eyes, which slid shut at the sound of the desire lacing Sam’s rough voice, snapped open as the human continued “If I said no, you’d just stop. Just…back off until I was okay for you to come back.”

“Of course. Why would you-” Understanding dawned in Orion’s eyes, desire burned away by the flicker of fury. “ ** _Who made you think_** _-“_

Sam cut him off with firm kiss, only breaking it when Orion lifted one hand off the bed to wrap his arm around him, pulling him against his chest. “I trust you.” He panted against his lips, “I want this, with you, only you.”

“Slag, Sam, I-“he groaned, unable to resist another kiss before continuing “Yes. _Frag_ darlin’, **_yes_**.”

After gently lowering him back onto the bed, the holo groped blindly around the bedside table, opening the drawer. He chucked the first foil packet he found halfway down the bed and rummaged again, pulling out the bottle of-

Orion froze, blinking at the bottle in his hand. His processor seemed to still and he blinked again, as if it would change colour if he kept staring at it. He turned it over in his hand, closing his eyes when he read the post-it note stuck to the back.

“I’m going to offline them.” He shrugged conversationally as Sam began to laugh, head thumping back against the pillows as he gasped for breath. “It’s going to be slow and painful and I am going to enjoy every second.”

“It’s sweet.” Sam insisted through his giggles. “They just want you to have a good time.”

“ _Strawberry?!”_

That set the human off again and he cover his face with his hand as he helplessly giggled as the Prime muttered as he read over the note again, mockingly.

“‘ _Here’s a treat for you to enjoy yourself! –Jazz & Ironhide’ _I am going to _offline_ them!”

Still giggling, Sam plucked it out of his hand, his eyes darkening as he nipped across Orion’s jaw. “This stuff is expensive; it would be rude to waste it.”

Orion hummed, heavy hands settling on either side of Sam’s waist as he rocked back, kneeling over Sam. He dragged his fingers across the waistband of Sam’s underwear and quickly slid them off, gaze never leaving Sam’s.

“Still okay?”

Sam nodded, legs falling open at the soft snap of the cap, mouth dropping open as Orion slowly worked one thick finger into him, twisting until he bucked up with a groan of the Prime’s name. “ _Fuck_ , _Orion more please.”_

“I gotcha, darlin’.” The holo’s eyes burned as he continued to finger his promised open, slowly dragging his fingers in and out, scissoring and twisting until Sam was pushing himself back on his fingers, eyes half-lidded and pleas pouring off his lips as quickly as the pre-come dribbling from the slit of his cock. He leant down to capture Sam in another kiss as he moaned. “Primus, look at you. So _fragging beautiful_ like this”

His hand shook as he stripped out of his underwear, ripping open the wrapper with his teeth and rolling the condom onto his aching cock, biting his lip with a muffled swear, fucking into his fist as he slicked himself up.

He slowly slid out his fingers, murmuring apologies against Sam’s lips as he whimpered. His sure hands guided Sam’s legs around his waist-and he paused. He held himself taunt until Sam blinked slowly, meeting his gaze fully.

“Are you sure you want this?” Pride curled low in his stomach as Sam shivered, biting his lip at mere sound of his voice, the thick drawl he had drawn out with bright eyes and wet lips. “We can stop now darlin’, whatever you want.”

Sam closed his eyes again, uncurling his fingers from where they gripped the bedsheets and slid them up Orion’s arms, wrapping them around his bicep as his eyes fluttered open. He gazed up at Orion through long lashes and _primus_ if his spark didn’t purr. Fringe stuck to his forehead, lips wet, eyes adoring, astrum glittering and skin glowing; he had never looked so primus-damned beautiful. “Orion…” Sam smiled softly, leaning up to brush his lips across Orion’s, “ ** _please_** ”

Orion groaned as he sank into Sam’s tight heat, forcing himself to move slowly and keep his eyes from fluttering shut in bliss to watch Sam’s mouth drop open, eyes rolling back as he bottomed out. He moaned, resting his forehead against Sam’s as they gasped in unison. “Fragging pit darlin’” He breathed, fingers curling into the bedsheet. “You okay?”

“Oh Gods.” Sam nodded, eyes wide and dazed, “Shit, yes, more please. Orion _please_ ”

Orion nodded and dragged out just as slowly, savouring the clench of Sam around him and the bite of his nails around his arm-and his breath punched out of his chest as Sam slammed his hips back, fucking himself back on his cock.

“ _Pit! Slag Sam-“_

“ ** _Yes_** _shit ‘Rion just like that **fuck** right there” _ Ecstasy flooded Sam’s veins as Orion’s self-will snapped and he slammed into him, Sam’s hands scrambling to his shoulders as Orion’s hands flew to his waist and lifted, the new angle making Sam’s eyes roll back with every thrust, moaning and dropping his head back to expose the smooth expanse of his throat for Orion to mouth along as he rocked into him over and over again in a relentless rhythm. “ _More, gods. Orion more please!”_

“ _Primus **frag** Sam so damn beautiful”  _ The world faded around them, narrowing to where they rocked together, their hands leaving hot brands burning against their slick skin. Orion’s hands tightened around Sam’s waist, his mind empty to everything bar fucking into his promised as he pushed them both closer and closer to the edge. Sam writhed beneath him and begged, arching into every thrust and biting back frantic kisses which left them both more than addicted to salt, iron and copper. “ _Love you so damn much._ _So perfect for me”_ He gasped against Sam’s throat, heat boiling in his belly and only sheer stubbornness kept him from losing himself in bliss.

“ _’Rion I’m **so** close **please** I” _ Sam dragged Orion up to kiss him desperately, moaning shamelessly when Orion slipped a hand between them and wrapped his fingers around his cock. “ ** _Shit_** _yes yes fuck I love you I-“_

Orion twisted his wrist and Sam spiralled over the edge, lithe frame arching as Orion’s name spilled from his lips like a prayer, pleasure strung out of every nerve as his eyes clouded with bliss. Gasping as Sam clenched around him Orion’s rhythm stuttered and he followed his promised over the edge, thrusting erratically before groaning Sam’s name.

Orion buried his face in the hollow of Sam’s throat, panting against the damp skin, azure eyes sliding shut as Sam slid his slim fingers into his matted hair and trailed his fingers through it, slowly untangling knots. Their chests heaved in sync, pulses sharing rhythm as they both remained tied together in their bubble of Elysian-the stresses of command melted and ineffable fears silenced. They stayed like that for a few more long, blissful moments before Orion rose, hovering over Sam once more, smilingly serenely when he smiled up at him and gently tugged him down for a long chaste kiss. They sighed into each other, only breaking the kiss when Orion pulled back carefully, his hand soothingly sliding down Sam’s side. “I’ll be right back darlin’,” he murmured against his lips, “I’m going to get a cloth.”

He returned to his half-asleep promised moments later, warm cloth gently wiping away the mess on Sam’s stomach before he tossed it into the wash basket and lifted Sam, throwing back the duvet before settling in, rolling onto his side to meet Sam’s tranquil eyes. Orion tucked a strand of copper hair behind Sam’s ear, lips quirking up as Sam hummed, smiling softly as he tugged lightly at Orion’s wrist until the holo wrapped his arm around his waist and pulled him close with a grin, shifting so Orion was on his back and Sam was pressed along his side, head pillowed on his shoulder and hand covering his spark chamber. Sam mummered sleepily, tilting his head up to catch the Prime’s lips in one last kiss before settling, drifting into sleep with mumbled “I love you.”

Orion pressed as kiss against Sam’s hair, smiling against the copper curls as he reached over and clicked off the light

* * *

Orion returned to awareness slowly, gradually being drawn out of his slumber. He was relaxed in a way he didn't think possible, warm and utterly boneless. His hand smoothed across duvet, the silk feeling like water under his fingertips. A small smile pulled at his lips as he sighed softly, shifting his hand slightly on Sam's thigh-

Azure eyes snapped open as the mech pulled his head up, staring down at the mess of copper hair on his chest and the slim hand resting protectively over his spark chamber. The black silk duvet was pulled up to drape lightly over Sam's waist, the human pressed along the length of Orion's side with his leg over Orion's waist, remaining there from where he had thrown it just before he fell asleep.

Suddenly, flashes of what had happened the night before shot through the mech's processor like brilliant, bursting fireworks:

_Sam looking down at him, his smile soft and a tad nervous as he intertwined their fingers and gently led him to their bedroom; Sam's hands tracing over him and his perfect lips memorizing his glyphs; Sam open and vulnerable and gasping out his name; Sam arching up from under him and offering himself up, his head tilted back and displaying the pendant around his neck; Sam withering beneath him, calling out for "More right there Gods Orion harder please!"; Sam gripping his shoulders tightly as his lithe frame spasmed, crying out his name, eyes clouded with bliss..._

Sam, who was curled into his side and dreaming peacefully, completely bare save the necklace Orion had given him for his birthday. Careful not to wake him, Orion pulled the duvet up to cover Sam's shoulder, the human sighing softly and snuggling in closer to his mech. The mech encircled Sam in his arms, perfectly content to just watch his Promised dream peacefully with a soft smile on his face.

It was just over half an hour before Sam sighed again, this time stretching slightly, dark tattoos vivid against his skin and pale scars all but faded to the mech's eyes. After a few moments his eyelids fluttered and he opened his eyes, blinking slowly and lifting his head to glance around the cream room, trying to get his bearings. He locked eyes with Orion, vivid blue sleepy and soft as a shy smile pulled at his lips.

"Mornin' Darlin'" Orion's voice was a sleepy drawl, entirely content as he started to trace up and down Sam's arm. The human smiled again at him, laying his head back down on his chest and snuggling in closer to his embrace. He shifted slightly, brushing a kiss over the holo's spark-chamber sleepily.

"Morning"

The human tilted his head so he could look up at his mech, a content smile pulling his lips. Unable to help himself, Orion leaned down to catch his lips with his own, kissing him softly. Sam leaned up again, propping himself up on his elbow to kiss him back properly. They broke apart gently, Sam's eyes shut and eyelashes scraping his cheeks.

"Darlin', about last night...any regrets?"

His eyes snapped open, teasing and light as he studied the mech's slightly unsure eyes. "Oh Sweetheart, Gods no" he practically purred, leaning down to press an open-mouthed kiss against the Holo's neck. The holo grinned, sliding his hands down to curl his fingers around Sam's thighs and flip him, pressing the human into the bed. Sam couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled out, smiling like a fool as Orion pressed kisses down his neck.

"Orion...'Rion, Sweetheart...I gotta get up..."

"Hmmm...no."

Another laugh slipped out as he felt Orion smile against his neck, moving his lips up to kiss along his jaw.

"No? Orion, I need to shower..."

"You can't, it's too early." He replied mater-of-factly, pressing a kiss at the corner of Sam's mouth and moving across his cheek. Sam raised an eyebrow in response, flicking his eyes over to the alarm clock on the side of the bed and back again.  
"Orion, it's after eight..."

"Exactly. Today is Saturday, a day of rest. You can't get up for at least another two hours."

"...That's Sunday."

Orion pulled back slightly, cocking his head to the side with something akin to mischievousness in his eyes. "Really? Hmm, I shall have to amend that. Fine, Saturday is now a day of rest for all Cybertronians and their humans in which they cannot get up until at least ten."

"I'm pretty sure you have to talk to someone high up on the chain-of-command about that."

"Oh I will, I'll talk to Prime. Would you look at that, he seems quite pleased with it. Thinks it's genius, actually."

"Idiot."

"Your idiot."

"Yeah." Sam grinned as he shifted slightly, trailing his fingers over the mech's spark chamber, "My idiot."

The mech gave a snort at that, brushing his lips over Sam's piercing and ghosting a kiss over the shell of his ear. "Love you."

Sam tilted his head to brush a kiss against his lips, "Love you too" he breathed, winding his arms around Orion's neck and leaning up to kiss him properly. Orion's hands slid up, drawing around Sam to hold him close, both of them gasping into the kiss. Sam's foot slowly trailed up the back of Orion's leg and his leg hooked over his waist again as he rocked up with a moan, Orion groaning Sam's name as he ground down...

And suddenly found himself on his back, Sam grinning down at him as he pressed a kiss against the tip of his nose and slipped out of the bed. The mech's mind, still muddled, didn't clear until Sam was at the door of his En-Suite, glancing over his shoulder and laughing softly when the holo covered his eyes with his arm and groaned,

"That was cheating, Darlin'."

"I never said I play fair, Sweetheart."

The holo lifted his arm to glare at him, but it wasn't very effective, seeing as the sound of Sam's laugh made his eyes light up and an automatic smile pull at his lips. He propped himself up on his elbows, running approving eyes up and down his human, who simply looked back at him amusedly.

"Besides, you're the one who's quite rude." Sam shook his head in mock-disappointment, fighting his grin at Orion's face twisting in confusion, "You frag a guy senseless and you make him shower all by himself the next morning? That's just plain rude."

He turned and moved into the En-Suite with a grin, feeling the holo's eyes heavy on his swaying hips.

The mech stared after his human for a moment, simply enjoying the view until he slipped out of sight. He dropped back down, hands behind his head with a smile and slid his eyes shut. They snapped open and he shot up, turning to stare at the En-Suite's ajar door for a moment, then darted out of the bed with a grin.

The hot water had only just completely soaked him when Sam felt two strong arms wrap around his waist and pull him into a firm chest. He reached back with one hand, tangling it in the dark, wet locks and placing his other hand over Orion's.

"Darlin'," The deep drawl that practically turned the human to jelly purred in his ear, even as the mech's hand slowly slid lower, "I am terribly sorry. Please let me make it up to you..."

" _Gods"_

* * *

The moment he had pulled on his jeans he was swept into Orion's arms again, the mech's mouth easily finding his. Orion carried him bridal-style across his room, sitting back down on the bed. Sam broke away with a gasp, sighing happily when Orion ran his lips across his neck as he leaned back.

"You're going to get the bed wet."

The mech shrugged and suddenly his hair was dry and the water droplets sneaking down his chest were gone. In response, the human pouted.

"Cheating."

The two lay down together facing each other, sharing soft smiles and kisses, slow and lazy. After a while, Orion twisted so he was propped up on his forearm and looking down at Sam, one hand moving down his bare chest to trace the twisting vivid black tattoos.

"When did you get these?" He murmured. Sam shrugged in response, tracing his own fingers over the glyph on Orion's shoulder.

"Fourteen, just before..."He trailed off, shivering at the chill of the memories. Orion pressed a kiss against his cheek in apology and Sam shook it off, smiling warmly back at him. "Anyway, we were meant to get them when we finished our training, but it was agreed that I was too young."

"What do they mean?" He traced the one on Sam's shoulder, the delicate twisting lines that bared a strong resemblance to a glyph.

"Loyalty" He moved further up, fingertips followed the one that snaked along the line of Sam's collar bone like a vine, "Trust"

He continued to trace them, Sam listing each one off quietly, no more than a whisper.

"Patience...Stealth...Knowledge...Understanding... "

When Sam's had listed off all the meanings, Orion lay down on his side again and started playing with Sam's hair, opening his mouth a few times to speak before closing it again. Sam traced his lips with his fingers and then carefully traced the glyph on his cheek that presented Orion as a Prime.

"What is it?"

Orion looked away for a moment, then sighed as he asked, "Darlin', speaking about Sector Seven...Are you sure you're okay?"

Sam propped himself up on his elbow, forehead furrowed in confusion as he threaded his fingers through Orion's. "What do you mean?"

"They were your family, Darlin'. I know how hard it is to go against your family. I just...I want to know if you're okay."

Sam shook his head lightly, kissing the mech's cheek with a touch of wonder at the mech's compassion in his eyes. "They aren't my family, Orion. Jason, Tom, Maria: none of them are. They died a long time ago, and these...these monsters called Fault Line, Director and Downpour are just using their faces. They never would have even considered doing the things they have. They're just ghosts I'm fighting, Sweetheart." The human shook his head with a humourless laugh, "Gods that sounded so confusing."

"No." Orion tilted Sam's chin up, looking him in the eye, "I know what you mean."

"Maximus." It was a statement, not a question. The depth of the sadness in the mech's eyes could only be from one being, no other evoked such regret. Orion nodded slowly in response, the lost look in his eyes sending a pang straight his Promised's heart. Sam lay down on his back again and gently tugged Orion's hand. The mech followed willingly, shifting to rest his head against Sam's heart. Sam ran his fingers slowly though his lover's hair, comforting him silently.

"He's been offlined for vorns. My brother would have rather offlined himself than raise a hand to a sparkling or hurt his bonded. I am...relieved he is offline. But..."

"But you feel guilty for feeling relieved."

"Yes. Even though I know my brother offlined vorns ago, I still mourn him. Does that even make sense?"

"Yes." Sam pressed a kiss against his hair. "Yes sweetheart, it makes perfect sense."

They stayed intertwined like that for a while, taking comfort in each other's steady presence until the call of command dragged them out of bed.

Sam sat up on the counter in Orion's kitchen, waiting for the coffee machine to click as he tilted his head back against the cabinet, shirt riding up to show a sliver of hard tanned muscle. Orion abandoned his tie to put his hands on the counter either side of him, kissing the displayed skin and straightening to press a kiss against Sam's neck, resting his head on his shoulder. Sam smiled in response, lightly running his fingers through his devastatingly dark hair.

Jazz pulled a face at Ironhide as they barged into the kitchen, Oz (As he had been nicknamed) on his hip and holding Quickfire's hand. The two had been on sparkling watch the night before and were dropping the sparklings off at their respective carers, Saturday being the only day the base actually wound down on. They stopped dead, still thrown at how exposed Orion was letting them see him again. The mech in question turned, smiling and opening his arms to Quickfire to squeal and jump into. Sam pressed a kiss against both their foreheads as he jumped off the counter to pour out coffee, tickling Oz as he went past. The little mech squealed, smiling up at the human who shared guardianship of him with Ironhide.

(Who else could they give it two, other than one of the mech's who introduced them to each other and the human who had brought Jazz back to Prowl?)

"Something wrong, Dijon?"

"No, but we've got a ping. There's six sparks just outside Tranquillity, so we're going to go meet up with them."

"Any ID?"

"Autobot sparks, but nothing other than that."

"Okay," Optimus nodded, eyes far away, "I'll accompany you. Sam? Can you take Quickfire?"

"Yup" The human popped the 'p' as he handed the three mechs a cup of coffee each, "I'm training later, but Quickfire can play with SwiftWing and SkyLight, can't you sweetie?"

The femme giggled, taking the metal cube Sam handed her and sipping the bright pink liquid. Orion's eyebrows pushed together and smoothed out just as quickly as he asked, voice light,

"Who are you training with?"

"Uh, Miles...Overcast...Shadow..."

The Prime twitched then smoothed his expression out, only for Sam to catch it in the corner of his eye. "What was that?"

"What was what?" The mech 'innocent' expression was fooling no-one. "I didn't do anything."

"Shadow."

He twitched.

"Shadow" Sam rolled the name off his tongue, laughing incredulously when the mech twitched again and momentarily tightened his lips. "What's wrong with Shadow?"

Twitch. "Nothing."

"He left S7 at the same time I did because of me. He's my TIC."

"I know, and he is a perfectly able solider and trustworthy."

"So why does me saying 'Shadow'-" Twitch. "-make you twitch?"

"No reason. He's just very intent when he trains with you."

Jazz and Ironhide were biting their lips, trying desperately not to laugh at how the mech was staring at the space just above the confused human's shoulder and forcing down a blush.

"He needs to be intent, Orion. He needs to be watching my back in case I pull something off which could damage it."

"Yes, and I agree completely. Only it wasn't your back he was staring so intently at."

"Are you jealous?"

"Of course not!" The mech scoffed, but something flickered behind his eyes. Not jealousy, but...worry? Abruptly, Sam felt his stomach drop. Was he honestly worried Sam would leave him for Shadow? Did he really have such a low opinion of himself? He slipped behind him and wrapped his arms around him, sneaking them over his shoulders and nimble fingers playing with the fabric just over his spark. The mech melted into his embrace slightly, even more so when the soothing Cybertronians rolled of his Promised's tongue.

_"You really think that I'd settle for some **human**? I love  **you** , Orion. Not just the Prime,  **you** ,  **Orion Pax** ; The devoted generator and the sweetest, loving and most forgiving being I've ever met, with the stamina of a Sex God." _He added on as an afterthought, raising his eyes to meet the two holos at the other side of the table. " _You're present was most appreciated last night_." He added with a wink

Ironhide spat his coffee across the table and Jazz finally let loose a burst of hysterical laughter at the mech's stupefied face as Sam pressed a kiss against the side of his neck and lifted Quickfire onto his hip, laughing as he left to go train.

Orion stared after him for a moment, then shook his head like a dog trying to rid water from his ears, a stupid smile on his face.

* * *

"So. How you coping?" Miles asked as he sat on Sam's feet, holding him steady as the Unspeakable performed sit-ups.

"Coping?" His forehead crinkled in confusion as he sat up, momentarily grabbing a swing of water and wiping his face with his abandoned shirt before falling back again, then sitting up once more, "Coping with what?"

"Well...in the last-" Miles glanced at the date on his watch, "-ten months you've trusted Cybertronians with not only your own life but Kaela's and mine; ran into a warzone with no weapons whatsoever; became a daddy to a four-year-old; told said Cybertronians about your true identity; became a host to an almost-divine power; started a revolution and become Promised/Chosen/whatever. Most people would, y'know, snap."

Sam, who had continued to sit up and down during this, sat up again with his eyebrows practically to his hairline. "Miles, I'm fine. Better than fine, actually. I'm great, I'm happy. Okay man?"

Miles smiled back at him, eyes bright. "Yeah, okay."

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

"You and Bee and SwiftWing and SkyLight? You kinda became a dad overnight. Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." Miles seemed to be staring at something over Sam's shoulder, a soft loving smile creeping onto his face, "Yeah man, I am..."

Sam grinned back at him and mused the blonde hair, laughing at Miles shout of "Watch the hair!"

He clamoured to his feet, grabbed his shirt and stretched out, muscles pulling tight. Shadow watched from his corner, eyes tracing the hard muscle of his back and down to the trousers that fitted just right-

_WHAM_

_"Sonofabitch!"_  The TIC snarled, rubbing his side and glaring at Midnight. The Rebel's-As they had taken to calling themselves-raven hair was pulled into a high ponytail and she shook her head, brushing a stray lock of hair back with the hand she had punched him with.

"You shouldn't get distracted during training."

"I'm just looking!"

"Well, don't." Midnight pursed her lips and folded her arms. "He's Promised and he is _happy_ , Shadow. Tell me, when was the last time you saw such a smile on his face?"

The TIC shifted uncomfortable, eventually shrugging.

"Exactly. And Prime is a good man. Leave them alone."

Shadow rolled his eyes and nodded, even as he glanced back once more as Sam bent down to tell Quickfire to wait with Miles for a few minutes while he showered, his eyes following the curve of his-

_WHAM_

_"DAMMIT WOMAN!"_


	36. Just when you thought it was safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second stretched for an infinity, then the black cloaks appeared out of the shadows like demons come to drag them back to hell

Sam shut the door silently with a small proud smile on his face. The 'Rebel' numbers has swollen to over twenty over the last few months and their training had been going excellently. This was the only part of being an Unspeakable Sam adored: Teaching. Training them up to trust each other and their allies, watching them learn new techniques and perfecting them and even just seeing the pride in their eyes when they pulled off a particular technique-He had always loved it, and even more so now.

The hanger that was being used for training was split into three: A gym for the soldiers that was mainly used for recreation; A proper training area for the Rebels and equipped with a variety of weapons; and a shower block with lockers used by both.

Sam pulled on his shirt as he headed to the shower, still self-conscious of the ghostly scars that still criss-crossed over his back and chest like jagged silver train tracks.

As he approached the end of the corridor, the dark hair soldier he had seen days earlier appeared around the corner. Defensive walls slammed into place and his muscles tightened, body torn between fight and flight at the danger. He forced himself to keep walking to the shower, eyes straight ahead. As the two passed each other, the soldier's head turned to make eye contact with Sam, his dark blue eyes cold and emotionless as they passed. When Sam finally got into the shower, he leaned against the wall, head tipped back to let the water wash over his face to try and calm the frantic beating of his heart and fear in his stomach.

* * *

 **:Here we go:**  Bumblebee warned softly, Scout programming locating the six sparks.  **:They're in-Oh you gotta be kidding me!:**

 **: Bumblebee?:**  Optimus's voice was quick with an undercurrent of worry,  **:What's wrong? Do we have a problem?:**

**:No, it's where they are:**

**:Where?:**

**:Bobby fragging Boliva's:**

Over the Commlink device Wheeljack was testing out on her, Mikaela burst into a peal of laughter, wiping tears from her eyes as the Scout grumbled back at her.

 **:Explain?:**  There was a touch of humour in Ratchet's voice, the sort a parent who had heard too many of their child's misadventures had.

**:It's where Sam and Miles bought Bee and Bee trashed half the lot!:**

**:I didn't trash it-!:**

**:You blew out the windows of the other cars!:**

**:Bumblebee?:**  There was definite amusement in the Prime's voice, while Ironhide and Sideswipe were actually shaking with laughter.  **:Care to explain?:**

**:They weren't going to buy me because apparently four grand was 'too expensive'! TOO EXPENSIVE?! That was just insulting, by the way! Anyway, I was still processing the fact that your fragging Promised had Allspark energy inside him and they were going to buy another car and I panicked alright?!:**

**:Wait, who's Promised had the Allspark energy inside them?:**

**:Prime's Promised:** Sideswipe supplied to Chromia, still laughing. Mikaela's head snapped up, but another voice was already speaking.

 **:Prime has a Promised?:** Elita-1 repeated sceptically,  **:Prime as in Optimus Prime?!:**

 **:Why does everyone find that so hard to accept?:** The mech sighed, mentally rolling his optics.

 **:'Cause it's you, Prime:** Arcee laughed back,  **:So, who's the lucky mech?:**

 **:It's a human!:** Ironhide supplied gleefully, grinning at the femmes shrieks **:He uses his holo-form!:**

**:You kinky bastard!:**

**:What-no! Shut it, Ironhide! Besides, you're one to talk, you have your own human!:**

**:Wait, HIDE has a human? My brother is getting it on with a human?!:**

**:THAT IS NOT HOW I INTENDED TO INTRODUCE YOU DAMN YOU PRIME!:**

**:You started it!:**

**:Ummm, guys?:** Mikaela's voice echoed over the mechs **:Who the** ** _hell_** **are they?:**

There was a moment of silence, then an explosion of sound burst across the Commlink, the mechs' voice deep and riddled with confusion as the femmes laughed and teased them.

* * *

They pulled back into base, two bots beyond nervous. Ratchet snorted at the two's nerves and left, parking in his usual spot in the hanger and holo striding back to med-bay. His eldest and just reunited daughter, First Aid, followed, scarlet hair tied up and white lab coat over a soft yellow top and grey jeans. Arcee whispered something to Moonracer, her hot-pink hair chopped into a spiky bob and falling into her eyes. Her sister Flare-Up had the same haircut in violet, while her other sister Moonracer had soft, apple green hair in curls to her shoulders. The trio that made one spark skipped off with Sideswipe and Bee, demanding a tour of the base while Mikaela skipped off to find Hound and Chatter.

That left only two femmes and two mechs. Both had femmes their arms crossed as they stared them down, hiding their grins.

"So?" Elita-1 finally asked, her long, wavy bumble-gum pink hair gently brushing her shoulders, dressed in a floaty pink shirt and light blue jeans. Orion avoided his sister-by-bond's eyes as he tried to figure out just how to explain Sam to her without sounding like a love-struck fool. Ironhide was having the same problem as he tried to avoid his half-sister's eyes, trying to put what he felt for Will into words which did not sound ridiculous. Chromia ran a hand through her pixie electric blue hair and stretched her arms, each sleeved with tattoos.

Finally, Orion opened his mouth to say something, only for the faintest sound to leak through the door.

For a split second the sound of a shot and a sparkling's cry threw him back to one of the greatest horrors of the war, where the ground was covered in tiny, broken frames and the sky wept.

Then the familiarity of the sound filtered through, and his spark  _stopped_.

It was Quickfire ( _His **sparkling**_ ) who had screamed, and it was a gunshot that punctured his spark.

He was already through the door, her name torn from his lips and Ironhide on his heels. Sharing a glance, Chromia and Elita-1 sprinted out into the sunlight, blinking at the sight they came upon. There was a dark haired solider dressed in green camouflaged trousers kneeling on the ground with a man in a black cloak holding his head back by his hair, a knife across his throat. Another man, baring a patch that read 'Major' was roaring furiously at him, Ironhide standing behind him with his arms crossed and shaking with fury.

Over to the side with his back to them was a human with red hair, white top stretched over firm muscles and gently rocking something in his arms. Orion was at his side in a microclick and the moment his hand touched the human's, he spun with a wicked-sharp dagger in his hand. Before either of the femmes could lunge forward and defend their Prime, the knife vanished and the human melted into Orion's embrace, the mech pressing kisses into his hair and leaning down to kiss the helm of the-

"Is..." Chromia's world tilted ever so slightly, holding onto Elita's arm, "is that a  _sparkling_? A  _femme_  sparkling?"

"Yes." Her half-sister breathed, eyes wide and mouth parted slightly. "Yes it is."

Orion spoke quickly in The Language of Old and to the two femmes shock, the human answered him back, voice soft and soothing. The little sparkling lifted its helm and whimpered something to him, causing Orion's eyes to snap back to the human. After a long second, the human nodded and Orion let out a furious snarl, pulling them both into his embrace again.

"What's going on?!" Chromia snarled, jolting around when the dark-skinned man behind her answered.

"One of our own took a shot at Sam's back when he was holding Quickfire. He missed and went to try again, but Sam managed to disarm him by the time we showed up."

"Sam is?"

"The kid with the red hair. Quickfire's his daughter."

"Who are they to Prime?" Elita-1 already knew the answer, but she wanted it confirmed by someone.

"Prime's Promised and kid."

"So, someone tried to kill Prime's Promised and sparkling?"

"...Yes."

Neither of the femmes seemed to do anything, but suddenly the Autobots came sprinting out of the various rooms of base, followed by the Rebels. Within seconds, there was a wall of bodies between the Prime's Promised and the assailant. After a few minutes of fury and accusations, Sam slipped through the bodies to kneel down in front of the solider, who spat at him in response. Elita wasn't the only one to snarl through clenched teeth at him, fury at the blatant disrespect for the one her Prime had chosen scorching through her. The human didn't even flinch as he put his hand to the male's neck and pulled something clasped around it into view.

A necklace with a copper 'A' rested in his palm.

The Rebels went silent, as if a switch had been turned off. Sam stared at it, not moving until Orion came up behind him with Quickfire on his hip and touched his shoulder. He turned slowly, lips moving too softly for anyone other than the Prime to see as he pulled the necklace sharply, the chain breaking with a snap and slithering to the ground. The Prime bleached white and turned on his heel, gently pressed his daughter into the arms of-

 _'Barricade?!'_  Elita didn't have a chance to voice her confusion as the human and Prime rocketed past her, barking orders over their shoulders.

The mixture of Autobots, Rebels and Rangers followed the two, the solider left behind with three guards. They skidded into the hanger where the holos' alt modes rested and converged behind the two leaders. The Unspeakable held the copper 'A' up to the webcam installed on the top of the computer and the screen went bright blue, white writing blazing across it so fast it blurred. The human didn't seem at all put off as his fingers danced across the keyboard of the computer. They scattered across it like scuttling spiders, the minute taps blending in together with his speed, the lines of code blurring even more so as they flew across the screen.

"Holy..."

Epps screwed up his face at the speed of his typing, shaking his head in disbelief. Whirlwind snorted as she tied her long dark hair back, her smooth face cracking into a smile for a moment at the sight of her Unspeakable rolling his eyes at the solider. Despite that, the Unspeakable's face was unchanging as he typed, forehead furrowed ever so slightly and eyes unwavering from the screen. Likewise, his typing never slowed, and after a few minutes he finally spoke.

"I'm in."

Prime placed a hand on his shoulder as he scourged through the S7 database, ruthless tearing through every weaker firewall placed within the system. With a quick command to Blaze, a USB drive was handed him and the copies of the file were immediately being streamed onto the USB.

"What's that?" Prime pointed up to a small symbol in the top right corner of the screen, at which the Unspeakable bleached white.

"They're live-streaming something..." Blaze breathed, staring at the screen in horror, "A mass command...but, but they never...not since-"

He shared a horrified look with Whirlwind, who tightened her hand around Viper's. The brunette turned to press herself against her pledged, tucking her head under the taller's chin.

"Not since the last Uprising." Viper breathed shakily, her blonde hair falling to mesh with her Pledged's, chocolate and caramel. "When they declared war on the rebels..."

The Unspeakable enlarged it, jerking back at the sight of Fault Line's face smirking back at him. His face had become stone as he clicked it, the speakers booming out Fault line's smug, hard voice.

_"We are not interested in the possibility of defeat. Not within the silence of a deserted ally, nor the clamour of a crowded street. The Rebels seem to be under the impression that we can be destroyed and vanquished. This is folly. We may have sunk due to the actions of The Bastard, but we shall rise up once more. As those we ally ourselves with increase their support, the Rebels will perish, struck in the heart of their perverted lives. This is our new pledge: The tale Rebels who set out to conquer us will finish in blood. Tonight."_

"Oh Gods..." Miles wavered, covering his mouth like he was going to be sick. The other Rebels in the room bleached a deathly white, their normally composed faces splintering in terror. The humans and Bots snapped their heads from face to face; ignorant to what was terrifying them.

Sam hadn't moved, frozen into a statue. He stared at the screen blankly, unable to tear his eyes from Fault Line's muddy brown. Then, stiffly, his fingers darted across the keyboard again, bringing up an entirely new screen. The screen warped and zoomed down, displaying a map with twelve large red dots pulsing and moving towards the centre of the screen.

The Unspeakable slowly straightened up and glanced back at his Rebels, and his smooth face causing them to snap to attention.

"Forty-two minutes."

One second they were there, the next they were gone, already following the unworded order their Unspeakable had given.

Blaze jumped up and moved to his Unspeakable's side, flanking his right. His shaking was gone, his face wiped of any emotion and his voice was flat.

"Orders?"

Bumble jolted at the coldness of his voice, flinching at the almost dead sheen in his lover's eyes.

"Assemble the Rebels. Get those unable to fight ready for transportation. Have the Rebels secure any important information and assemble back here in fifteen minutes."

"Yes, Sir."

He was a blonde blur out the door, already gone before the door had even shut. The Unspeakable snapped himself into action, grabbing the USB drive and throwing to Prime, who caught it deftly.

"Sam?" The Army Captain was stepping towards him, palms flat to indicate he was no threat to the high-alert assassin, "What in the name of God-"

"The Elites know we're here."

The entire room froze; a thick, frigid silence bearing down on them all. Ironhide's gun cocked with an echoing click, his face set.

"How-"

"That solider is an Alpha. He must have been sent in undercover; he's been acting suspicious for a few days now." He bit out, hands clenching into fists. Bumblebee went to interrupt, but the Rebel leader was speaking again before they could fully process what he had just said.

"You need to move, now. All of you have to run-"

"No." Will shook his head, pulling himself out of his shock, "No, we're not going to run. We're going to stay here and-"

Sam whirled around at him, and for once he finally saw why he had been chosen as an Unspeakable at such a young age. His wicked-blue eyes were hard and unflinching and when he spoke, the army captain practically wanted to bow his head to him as the almost visible aura of power he always had flared out violently.

"No." He was cold, inarguable. "There are at least sixty Elites coming, and you  _cannot_  fight them. Lennox, they are your  _superiors_. You go against them and you'll be locked up so fast your head will spin, if they do not kill you first. You are their enemy, and they will kill you and all of your men. You have to go now!"

Lennox stared at him for a second, every instinct screaming at him to stand his ground and fight.

But he knew he was hopelessly outnumbered, so he gritted his teeth and nodded to Epps, who fled from the room and who's voice echoed down the intercom and called for the soldiers to move. Prime barked out a similar command and the room was a blur of motion, Autobots darting off to get their sparklings and personal belongings. The Unspeakable was already striding from the room, Prime walking in step beside him as they almost sprinted past the offices lining the corridor.

"Where do you want us?"

"Gone."

"What?!" He caught him by the arm, refusing to let him leave without explaining himself. "You cannot be serious-"

"I want you to take your people and go to the new base while we stay here. We will rendezvous with you when we can-"

"-No, absolutely not."

"-We don't have time for this-"

"-We are not leaving-"

"-You have to-"

"Sam!" Orion threw open one of the empty office doors, pulling the human in and slamming it shut. He held Sam's other arm tightly, begging him to look him in the eye, "I will not let you do this-"

"You have no choice!" The Rebel hissed back, jaw tight. "You have to go-"

Sam almost jerked as Orion snarled at him, his entire frame trembling, fury radiating from every inch.

_"_ _**I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU HERE TO DIE! I WILL NOT LOSE YOU!"** _

His hands shook as he refused to move his gaze from his human's, his voice dropped to a near-whisper,  _"I cannot lose you."_  he repeated, looking so terrified that Sam felt his heart break. He closed his eyes and took a ragged breath, lips trembling.

"Don't make this harder than it already is-"

"-Please don't leave me-"

"-Orion, I-"

"-I love you. I  _love_  you.  _Please,_  Darlin' -"

"Dammit, Orion!" He forced himself to look away, swallowing harshly. "You can't help me! Primus, Sweetheart, you can't fight them! The Elites are an ancient group, if certain people found out you, the leader of an alien fraction living on earth, had fought against their own people? You'd all be kicked off the planet faster than you could process the thought! You can't fight-"

"Come with us then!" The mech practically begged, shaking his head when Sam shook his own.

"We need to hold them off, to give you a chance to get away. We can't-"

"-Darlin',  ** _please_** -"

Sam leaned up and kissed him, Orion kissing him back frantically, backing him up until his back was against the door. He dropped his hands to Sam hips and lifted him up, Sam legs wrapping around his waist as Orion kissed him desperately. After a few seconds the human broke away, panting harshly.

"Orion-"

"Sam, please-"

He turned to face the mech head-on, locking their eyes.

"Orion, listen to me. I love you, but I need you to trust me. This is my fight. They are coming here because of me, first and foremost."

"You shouldn't have to fight this alone-"

"-I won't be. The other Rebels-"

"-Sam..."

"Orion, your people need you to lead them now. Take them away from here and we'll meet with you later. You fight with us and you have to leave the planet. You let us fight and we will meet with you later."

Orion stared at him for a long moment, before finally shutting his eyes and resting his forehead over Sam's heart.

"Promise me you'll come home." He whispered, choking down his fear. Sam ran his fingers through his dark hair, pressing a soft kiss against it.

"I promise I'll do everything I can."

It was the best, the mech knew, he could get.

* * *

"Are we really running away?" Ironhide's arms were crossed tightly, annoyance leaching off him. Prime nodded sharply, expression unmoving.

"This is not our fight."

Ironhide let out a frustrated huff, transforming quickly and opened his door for Will to lock Annabelle and Freeze-flame into their car-seats in the back, Will then climbing into the front.

Prime flicked his optics over to where the Rebels were huddled, twenty-three of them grouped tightly, dressed in black and turning over weapons in their hands. Three pairs were off to the side, the three Rebels who could not fight saying goodbye to their lovers. The halves that were staying all knelt down and pressed a kiss against their Pledge's stomach, saying goodbye to their unborn children before straightening and leading them to the Autobots who were taking them away from the danger.

Optimus continued to let his optics drift, finally landing on the figure kneeling on the ground just off from the group. Quickfire had her helm tucked under Sam's chin, tiny fingers gripping his shirt tightly. The human rested his chin on her helm and shut his eyes for a moment, the prayer for the safety of his daughter he whispered soundlessly easy for all to see. He stood, lifting her onto his hip and walking over to the waiting Bots, giving them their first proper view of the Rebel uniform.

The top was a plain black shirt with a similar zip-up jacket over the top. The jacket was high-collared to protect the neck and long sleeved, made of a tough material which was hard to tear, yet easy to move in. The jacket also had a hood which covered the Rebel's face and which was rolled up and tucked inside the back of the jacket when not in use. Each of the black fingerless gloves had a pouch on the back of the hand with a tablet in it. The one on the right hand was a strong painkiller, while the one on the left was a strong dose of Belladonna (a poison which would drop the intaker's heart-rate so low down, they would appear dead. As Elite custom dictated that all POWs who died in their 'care' had to be returned to the opposing side, it was hoped that if in an event of capture, the small pill could possibly save a life). Dark trousers which had pockets down the side were made of the same material as the jacket, and were tucked into sturdy, knee-high boots. Sam's Schiavona was strapped across his back and his daggers were strapped to his thighs, both within reach at a moment's notice.

Orion knelt down and took the tiny femme from him, brushing his finger against Sam's cheek as he did so. He transformed around the little femme, placing her on the berth in his sleeper section as he did so. Sam stepped forward, the walls that had sprung up behind his eyes again to hide his true fear lowered slightly to let his love for the two Cybertronians bleed through. He placed his hand on Orion's bonnet for a moment, then backed away, his fingers trailing like he never wanted to stop touching him. His hand drifted in mid-air for a moment, then the walls snapped back into place and he gave a cut nod, turned, and walked over to the other Rebels.

It was an unspoken rule between the two. Neither of them ever said the word 'goodbye'. It was too cold, too dangerous, too...ultimate.

Prime's engine roared and he cut a sharp U-Turn and shot out of base, the other Cybertronians following him with Ironhide in the rear.

_12 minutes_

* * *

The Rebels spread out, eyes on the horizon. The air was still and silent, each figure was unmoving and unblinking as they waited. The sun had almost completely sunk under the horizon, the sky fading to a deep red.

Blaze smirked, though there was no humour in his eyes as he softly began to sing the rhyme taught to all Elites during their training.

_"When the sky is clear and blue; those at war will return as one."_

_When the sky is dark and grey; those at war will leave behind some._

_When the sky is black and cold; those at war will leave their core._

_When the sky is bloody and cruel; those at home will wait no more"_

_3 minutes_

* * *

The Unspeakable glanced at his wrist, checking the Autobots status. The Autobots had to get right off his scanner to be safe, because if he could see them, it was certain the Elites could as well.

He turned to Blaze, the blonde trailing his fingers up the arrow notched on his bow. "Take a few onto the roof."  
Blaze stared back at him, eyes disproving at the idea of being separated from his partner, but nodded. He walked away from the Unspeakable and made a few sharp gestures, three Rebel immediately following him onto the roofs.  
The teen took a second to steady himself and turned to face the Rebels, making a quick gesture. They reacted at once, splitting into five lines, the first two with four to a line, the second with five. The remaining filtered into the last line with Shadow standing at the centre. The Unspeakable looked at all of them, making sure to make eye contact with each of them as he spoke.

"We cannot let this line fall. The ones that are coming here tonight are neither our friends nor our family. They have come here to kill us and kill our allies. We will not let them succeed."

The Rebels shouted out an echoing agreement, standing to attention. He nodded and turned to face ahead again.

The second stretched for an infinity, then the black cloaks appeared out of the shadows like demons come to drag them back to hell


	37. The Drums of War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You're losing too much blood."
> 
> "We're not far."
> 
> "It's an hour and a half of a drive."
> 
> "Drive fast."

"Well, I must admit," The shadow who taking point drawled, her Italian lilt rolling off her tongue, "I was expecting far less. Well done, Lightning, you seemed to have gathered up quite the vast number of conspirators, haven't you?"

"I don't go by that name anymore."

"No, you don't." She lifted her head so the sun's dying rays made her hazel eyes shine with a fevered light. "But I should no longer be surprised by your treachery. Dishonouring our family, betraying us to our greatest enemies, denying your name-"Her lips curled up to disgusted sneer, "-becoming an NBE's  _whore_. Is there no low you will not sink to?"

"I would rather crawl in the  _dirt_  than stand tall with you." Elites gather behind her let out poisonous hisses due to the shocking insult the once-royal snarled. Downpour straightened out of her animalistic crouch, teeth barring into a parody of a smile.

"That, dear cousin, can be arranged."

The two stared each other down for a moment, then lunged towards one another as one, their subordinates flying past them to meet in the middle with strangled snarls.

* * *

Blaze gave a twisted laugh as the blade missed his heart, leaving a long cut across his chest. There was blood matted in his hair, both his own and others', and bruises already darkening his face. Over an hour had past and they were still fighting the first wave, neither side going down without a fight.

He refused to acknowledge any of the unmoving shapes on the ground.

The Elite he was fighting slashed at him again, eyes burning when Blaze let out another laugh as he missed. In his fury, he decided to attack the blonde in another manner.

This would lead to his undoing.

"So it's not just Lightning who's being an NBE's little fuck-toy?" Miles missed a step, snarling when he was sliced across the shoulder as the Elite smirked and continued, "Thing is though, while I can see Lightning spreading his legs like a good little slut-" He jerked back, barely avoiding the dagger that slashed across his neck, "-I can't see you doing the same. So it must be the NBE who's the little whore. You know, maybe after this, I'll take it for a little ride? See how loud I can make it scream and beg-"

Miles gave a guttural roar of fury, lunging forward as he completely forgo his weapons. He hit the Elite head on, slamming him to the ground and rolling him so he was on top. Twisting his fist through the fabric of the Elite's shoulder, he yanked him up with one hand as his other fist flew into his face over and over again, until both his fist and the Elite's face were bloody. His body was on auto-pilot; the image of his innocent, beautiful Bee being held down and  _forced_ by the piece of dirt under him was burning in front of him and wiping his mind. He would happily keep doing this until the fight was over, only to be jerked out of his daze by a horrific scream. He blinked a few times, finally registering the half-unconscious form under him. Panting harshly, he jerked him up until his mouth was at the Elite's ear.

"Before you so much as get within a hundred foot of him," He snarled, nails biting into the Elite's shoulder, "I'll rip you apart with my bare hands. You won't even get a chance to so much as  _look_  at him before I tear you to pieces."

The Elite gave a strangled half-moan of pain when the blonde threw him down and slammed his foot into his stomach before vanishing into the fray.

* * *

Whirlwind jerked back as the Elite fell forward onto her face, hitting the ground, unmoving. The Rebel's shoulders heaved as she gasped, a vindicated smile stretching across her lips as the instructor who had stole her from her mother and conspired for the death of her brother finally paid for her actions. She gazed around her, a flash of gold stealing her attention. Despite the battle that raged around her, she smiled as she saw Viper's golden hair fan out around her as she spun. Her Pledged, in that moment, looked less like a mortal and more like a daughter of the Goddess of War as she twisted, baring her back to the Elite who has slipped behind her silently.

The Rebel didn't think.

Moving faster than a bullet from a gun and with a strangled cry, she lunged in-between them. Her knife sunk into the Elite's shoulder just as his dagger sliced straight into her chest and twisted. The Elite Viper was dealing with fell as she swung around, just in time to see her Pledged fall backwards, the knife in the other Elite's hand dripping scarlet. Viper caught her as she fell, sinking to her knees as she cradled her Pledged.

"Oh no no no no, baby?" Whirlwind's head lolled to the side as she coughed wetly, more sick scarlet spraying out over the ground. Viper cupped her cheek, tilting her head so she could see her face. Whirlwind stared up at her for a moment, her face breaking out into a relived smile.

"Krissy. You're...you're okay."

"Maya...Maya, baby, what were you thinkin'?"

"Hadda'...hadda keep you safe. You're always getting into trouble." Maya let out a weak laugh, a bubble of blood bursting at the side of her mouth. Kristina brushed a strand of dark hair back from her face, not even trying to stop the tears rolling down her cheeks. Maya's face crumpled as they splashed onto her cheek, clumsily brushing them away with one hand. "No...no Krissy, don't...don't cry, honey...It's okay"

She shook her head, trembling as she tried to stop herself from sobbing. "Maya...baby..."

Maya gazed up at her, chocolate eyes soft and adoring as she shakily pulled Kristina's head down. The blonde kissed her Pledged, forcibly ignoring the horrible copper taste. "Maya...my Maya, my baby. Love you."

Maya smiled against her lips. "Love you...cya on the other side, honey. I'll...I'll wait for you."

"No. No Maya, baby, no. No, you stay with me. Maya, Maya baby, please. I love you. I love you so much, Maya.  _Please_ -

Maya didn't look away from Kristina's eyes. "Love you"  
Chocolate eyes went blank. Kristina stared down at her for a moment, trying to form words as she shook her. "Maya. Maya, wake up. Wake up, Maya. Baby?  _Baby?!"_

She looked up. The Elite was still standing there, staring down at the two of them. He dragged his eyes away from his victim to meet Kristina's eyes.

"Why?"

He stared at her, then stumbled back, dropping the knife before he turned on his heel and ran. Kristina turned her attention back to the body in her arms. "Come on, Maya. Come on baby, don't do this. Wake up. Wake up, Maya.  _Maya!"_

Before she knew it, she was screaming, rocking back and forth as she buried her head in the smooth curve of her Pledged's neck. Hands grabbed her, grabbed  _her Maya_  and she snarled and bit like a cornered animal, curling herself around her Maya until they backed off.

* * *

Downpour laughed as she darted out of the way, twisting around the Unspeakable.

"My, my cousin. You have gotten better with your swordplay."

"Yeah?" Sam spat out a mouthful of blood, knocking Downpour's feet out from under her, "Well, I have an excellent teacher."

"Ah, yes." Downpour rolled back onto her feet, swiping her Schiavona off the ground, "The NBE. Oh...we are going to have so much  _fun_  with him."

She jerked back, stumbling at the sudden, murderous fury in the other Unspeakable's eyes as he lunged forward, the bottom of his sword slamming into the side of her face. Spitting her raven hair out of her mouth, she sliced her blade across his side in retaliation. Sam gave a guttural snarl in the back of his throat, ignoring the shooting pain slicing up his side. She smirked at him, her arrogance going to her head.

"You have  _no_  idea what we have planned for him. And don't think we don't know about your little NBT."

Her smirk widened at the flash of fear in his eyes.

"Oh, we know  _all_  about them. Had fun playing 'Daddy' and 'Whore'? 'Cause that's all over now, little cousin."

"I won't let you." Sam shook his head, trembling, "I won't let you hurt them. You'll have to kill me first."

"Oh Sammy, "She laughed as her blade left a deep cut on his leg, his blade skidding across the ground as his leg crumpled beneath him, "We aren't going to  _kill_  you. Not yet. We're going to make you  _watch_."

Sam looked up at her, face drawn in horror. "No."

"We're going to tear them apart bit by bit, then build them up again, then tear them apart once more.

" _No"_

"We're going to make you listen to your little NBT scream for her Daddy to come and save her, make your NBE  _beg_  for death, while you can do  _nothing_ -"

" ** _NO!"_**

It happened so fast, the dark-haired Unspeakable didn't have time to react. One second her cousin was staring up at her in horror, the next he had lunged to his feet in a blur of black. Not even bothering to try and grab his own sword, he grabbed the grip of hers. In a sharp movement, he twisted it and the blade sliced into her stomach like a hot knife through butter. Her chest slammed into his as the sword jutted out of her back. She choked, mouth open in shock as Sam pulled back a tiny amount to put his lips to her ear.

"You'll touch them...over my.  _Dead_.  ** _Body_**."

With a grunt, he pulled the sword back, chest heaving as he stumbled back. Downpour crashed to her knees, dragging her eyes up to meet his, even as darkness started to cloud her vision. He stared back at her, lips set even as a thin trickle of blood from his forehead made its way down his face.

As the world faded, the last thing she could see was a set of burning blue eyes.

* * *

"Ready?"

Aqua nodded silently, pulling her hair into a tight bun to stop it from getting in her way. Fault Line covertly handed her something which caused her blood to run cold when she recognised the device.

"Jason...what-?"

She recoiled from the thin black tube like it was a poisonous snake, mouth falling open in horror, stomach twisting as the two sharp blades at its 'mouth' gleamed. "Jason...you cannot be-"

"If you get close to him, make sure the blades go into his neck, or it'll be useless-"

"Jason, this could kill-"

"We need information from him, Aisling. This will extract it-"

"-Are you  _insane?!_  Jason, you  _know_  how this works!"

"Aisling, you're overeating-"

" _Overeating?!_  Jason, this turns his body against himself! This...This sets his nerves on fire until he answers our questions! This is  _torture!_ "

"We  _need_ this information-"

"He is our  _blood-!"_

 _"He is_ _ **nothing!"**_ The car swerved as Jason roared at her, eyes half-mad. "He is not our blood, not our own. He is a traitor of the lowest!"

She shrank back in her seat, suddenly terrified of the man who would have been her brother-in-law. He continued to seethe at her, fingers white as he gripped the steering wheel. As they sat in silence, Aisling glanced down at her wrist, absentmindedly playing with the fading thread around it.

 _"Aisling, I don't wanna make bracelets, they're for girls!"_  
"Come on, Sammy, please?"  
"Urgh, fine, I'll make you one!"  
"Thank you, Sammy! You're the best cousin ever!"

She dragged her eyes away from the faded memory as the car jerked to a stop. Her hand, which had been moving to her knife, froze.

The NBE base was burning. And her little cousin was standing in the centre, Downpour's sword in his hand and dripping crimson. His eyes were shut, he was covered and cuts and bruises and he looked like he could barely stand. But when Jason slipped out of the car and slammed the door shut, his eyes snapped open.

The two stared at each other, then Sam tilted his head to the side. Twenty-four shadows slipped out of the smoke, standing behind him, to attention. Fault Line did likewise, thirty-two filing out behind him. Sam's eyes slowly roved over the Elites, his eyes briefly landing on Aisling, before moving on once more. Fault Line ran his eyes over Sam in a way that caused Aisling to shudder, the girl once again thrown at how quickly the other Unspeakable's attitude to Sam could change, like it was balanced on a see-saw.

"Where are they, traitor?"

"If you really think you'd get an answer that easy," The words rolled off like her cousin was bored and Aisling was taken back at just how grown-up he sounded. What had happened to the fourteen year old who tried to change her mind? "You are terribly mistaken."

"Tell us where they are, and we all walk away from this. We know they went in this direction. Step aside and we will spare you."

Sam glanced back, causing Aisling's eyes to narrow. Was he-? He was. ' _He's asking them_ _ **their**_ _opinion? But...he's their superior...does he...does he let_ _ **them**_ _have a say?'_

The Rebels met their Unspeakable's gaze unwaveringly, then each put their fist over their heart and nodded. Sam returned the nod, meeting Fault Line's eyes again.

"I'm afraid we simply cannot let you do that."

Fault Line smiled slowly. "Oh I was  _so_  hoping you would say that."

* * *

This wasn't a fight. This was...this was sheer madness. Rebels and Elites were snarling and screaming, darting in and out of the smoke. Blades flashed, moans of agony echoed and black shapes fell-friend or enemy, Aisling could not tell. She stumbled blindly through the smoke, coughing and choking as she tried to make heads or tails of what was going on. The Director had told Fault Line to try and get as many Rebels back home as possible, and try not to harm them. But this...the Elites were  _butchering_  the ones they came across. This was wrong and twisted and-

The palms of her hands burned as they took the impact of her fall, her blade skidding away from her, leaving her weapon-less. She twisted to see what she had tripped over, hear leaping to her throat when she made out the image of one form cradling another, their face buried in their neck. The other form was not moving. She reached out to touch the other's shoulder, jerking back when the head snapped up.

"Kr-Kristina?"

Her face was streaked with soot, blood and...tears? From the girl who never cried? Like she was trapped in a horror film, Aisling's eyes slowly dropped to see who she was holding.

"Maya?"

She reached out to touch the cold face, only for Kristina to jerk her back and produce a gun from nowhere. Her inexperience with the weapon obvious by the way she held it, but her fury and agony was making up for that. "You. You did this."

"No"

"Your  _precious_  Director ordered this!"

"No!"

"She's dead because of all of you!  _You killed her!_ "

" _AQUA!_ "

Cobra saw only his superior being threatened. Before she had a chance to react, the gun flew out of Kristina's hand with an experienced throw of a knife, and a second was streaking through the air, too fast for to stop, it was going to hit Krissy-

A hand shot out of nowhere, snagging the knife mid-air and sending it flying back, directly into Cobra's shoulder. The force of the throw took him off his feet, sending him crashing onto his back.

"I've wanted to do that for years."

She couldn't look up, couldn't look him in the eye as her cousin let out a piercing whistle. Half a second later, a soot-and-blood stained Blaze stood beside him.

"Get Maya."

Though his face was blank, his hands were infinitely gentle as he lifted the fallen Rebel out of her Pledged's arms and put her over his shoulder. Krissy let out a choked scream as she lunged forward to try and grab her back, snarling when Sam's firm grip on her upper-arms stopped her.

"LET ME GO-"

"-Krissy, look at me-"

"-GIVE HER BACK TO ME-"

"-Kristina-!"

"-MAYA-!"

"VIPER STAND TO ATTENTION!"

The blonde automatically froze, staring up at her Unspeakable. "MAYA GAVE HER LIFE FOR YOU. WILL YOU LET HER SACRIFICE BE IN VAIN?! WILL YOU?!"

She shook her head numbly, staring like a lost child. Sam let out a long breath, nodding. "Go with Miles. We've held them off long enough, they're out of range. He's going to take you and Maya to a car and get out of here. Go-"

"Oh Sammy, leaving the party so soon?"

Even under the soot and blood and bruises, she could see her cousin bleach white as he whispered,

"Run."

"Sam-"

" _RUN!"_

They ran towards the waiting car, Sam pushing Krissy ahead. Aisling stumbled after them, sinking to the ground with a pained noise when Fault Line slammed into Sam's back, sending him skidding across the ground with a harsh cry. Miles spun to turn back, only to be forced on by the Unspeakable's hollered command and the hands that pulled him into the car.

" _GO GO GO_!"Sam screamed as he dragged himself to his feet, trying to stumble over to the last car. The one containing Miles raced off with a squeal and Aisling let out another choked sob when Jason appeared behind Sam once more, tackling him to the ground and slamming his head against it. Before he could get to his feet, The Unspeakable wrapped his hands around the traitor's neck and lifted him until his toes were off the ground. Sam scrambled at his hands, choking and desperately trying to get a breath.

"How could you, Sammy? How could you lower yourself to be an NBE's _whore_?"

Aisling looked from left to right, torn more than she ever thought possible.

_Sam or Jason?_

"You've become so desirable, Sammy. Even with being labelled a traitor. You've grown up to be so  _pretty_ "

Sam's head lolled to the side, gasping for air.

_Sam or Jason?_

"Come home, Sammy. Come home, I  _promise_  you I'll make it worth it." He trailed his lips up the side of the Unspeakable's face, ignoring the sick sound of protest.

His lips were turning blue.

_Sam or Jason?_

Bile rose in Aisling's throat as Fault Line smashed his lips against Sam's, ignoring how the younger's hands desperately tried to push him away. The kiss lasted for only a few seconds before the elder jerked back with a yell and threw Sam to the ground, the Rebel leader rolling and coughing harshly. Fault Line turned and spat out a mouthful of blood as he stalked towards him.

"You bit me"

Sam forced his head up, teeth bared and eyes glowing. "That's what happens when you shove your tongue down my throat."

_Sam or Jason?_

"Oh, so you'll willingly submit to a goddamn  _robot_  but would won't to a real man?"

"' _Real man'?!"_ He let out a harsh laugh "Oh  _dearest_  there is more man in his left pede than you could  _ever_  be."

"Last chance, Sammy. Come home and I will make sure you never want of anything nor ever spend a day...unsatisfied."

The Rebel let out another harsh laugh, grinning madly. "Oh  _dearest_ , I get more pleasure out of my Promised saying my  _name_  than you could ever give me. I will  _never_  yield to _you_."

"Very well."

_Sam or Jason?_

The thin black tube came out of Fault Line's pocket. He sighed, as if he truly regretted what he was going to do. Aisling rose silently, the flash of silver in her hand catching both Unspeakables' eyes.

"Ash-"

"He killed my sister. This is my right."

Sam stared up at her, then shakily got to his feet with an agonised sound. "If I'm going to die, it's going to be on my feet."

Aisling stared into her cousin's unflinching eyes, his head held high, the top of his shirt torn open and displaying an oddly-coloured stone than hung from a thin cord around his neck. His legs shook from the effort from standing and his hands curled into fists to stop himself from showing any other sign of pain.

She swallowed.

_Jason_

She fired.

The bullet shot past his shoulder.

Before either of the two males could react, she spun, slamming the butt of her gun against Fault Line's temple hard enough to send him crashing to the ground. She shot forward, grabbing Sam before his knees gave out from under him and half-dragged him to the car, pushing him into the passenger seat.

_"AISLING!"_

She threw herself into the driving seat and slammed her foot down, refusing to look back as the car disappeared into the smoke. Sam lurched forward, slamming his hand against a non-descript button on the stereo which sent an ice-cold flash to swoop over her.

"What the hell-?"

"Mirroring technology. Everything bounces back, light rays, infra-red, everything else. We're all but invisible except to those who hold the other half of this."

She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he painfully extracted a small device from his pocket that looked like touch-screen music player and pressed a small, almost invisible button. At once the screen burst to life and a series of clicks and whirls were emitted from it, the alien language sending a shiver down Aisling's spine.

Followed by another when Sam exhaustedly replied in the same tongue. Before she was able to say anything, the pain and tension drained from Sam's face as a strikingly handsome man's face, which was drawn with stress, appeared. At once the stress vanished as the man registered who he was looking at.

_"Sam! Primus Darlin', what happened? Are you okay? Where are you, Miles said you were-"_

"'Rion, 'Rion, I'm fine-"

_"_ _**Fine?!** _ _Darlin', don't try and sell me that. Where are you, who are you with? Please tell me you're okay"_

"I am, I swear. You've been in contact with Miles-?"

_"Yes. A large number of Elites actually deflected within a few moments. Stop changing the subject,_ _**where are you and who are you with** _ _?!"_

"I'm on my way to the airport. I'm about ten minutes behind the others, please contact them and tell them to hold the plane. I'm...I'm with my cousin. She deflected."

'Rion' dropped his head into his palms, running his fingers through his hair in frustration.  _"Okay...okay."_

Sam cursed as the screen warped, the image fading and sharpening.

_"-am?"_

"This thing's dying. I'll be home in a few hours, okay?"

The fuzzy image of the so-called 'Rion' nodded, then reached out to touch the screen with his fingertips. Sam smiled crookedly and did the same.

_"'Love you, Darlin'"_

"Love you too, Sweetheart."

The man smiled one last time before the device died. When it did so, Sam sank back into the seat with a pained noise. "We're going to Arcata Airport in Eureka. There's going to be a plane waiting there."

She over at him, then hesitantly pressed her hand against his side, yanking it away as if she was burned when he let out a roar of pain. Glancing down at her hand, she had to jerk the car out of its swerve when she realised at how slick it was, staring as the blood trickled down her wrist. Sam's face was as white as it had been when he thought she was going to shoot him and was steadily growing even whiter.

"You're losing too much blood."

"We're not far."

"It's an hour and a half of a drive."

"Drive fast."


	38. Residuum and Origin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow sorry this has taken so long! I'm in the middle of super important exams at the moment (as in, they decide whether or not I get into university) so that's why I haven't had the chance to update :/

Despite trying to fight it, Sam's sight was blurring and fading as the car screeched to a stop. Vaguely, he could hear the door fly open and Miles's sharp commands, the undertone of fear in his voice making him mentally blanch at what he must look like. Suddenly, Miles occupied his vision, blood matting his hair as he looked down at him, trying to keep him awake by talking to him. He pulled the corner of his mouth up in a lop-sided smile to try and reassure him, his own body relaxing slightly when he saw how his brother was mostly uninjured.

His brother's face blurred for a second, his hair darkening to chocolate brown and a strange symbol slithering across his cheek. Sam shook his head to try and focus, but Miles still had brown hair. His head lolled to the side and the runway of airport shimmered like a mirage, swirling into strange building which almost looked like a tall, twisting castle. He blinked a few more times in bemusement before something pricked his arm and he slipped into blessed darkness.

* * *

_The grass was unbelievably cool under his feet as he walked through the garden. He let his fingers trail across the multicoloured flowers, still awed by the variety of colour even after four Summer Solstices. A soft giggle made his ears prick and he turned, drawn towards the sound with a small, loving smile already curling on his lips._

_"What happened next, Creator? What did you do when you saw him?"_  
"What do you think I did, silly? I asked him to dance with me."  
"Really? But you told Uncle Dijon you didn't want to dance!"  
"I didn't...with anyone other than your carrier."  
"Was he pretty?"  
"He's always pretty."  
"Creator!"

_He rounded the corner silently, lightly pressing a hand against his lips to halt the soft laugh that wanted to escape. His daughter sat crossed-legged on the brightly coloured blanket that was draped over the white stone bench, curly black hair shining blue in the warm sunlight with a flower tucked behind her ear. His Entwined had his back to him as he helped her create a bracelet of flower, a halo of flowers already in his own dark hair._

_"He was the most beautiful being I had ever seen in my life."_  
"What did he do?"  
"Well, he looked me up and down and said-"

_He wrapped his arms around him from behind, pressing a kiss against the patch of skin just under his ear._

_"Sure thing, handsome."_

_Strong arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him onto Hunter's lap. He went with a laugh, pressing a kiss against his Entwined's nose and opening his arms for his daughter to squirm into with a giggle of her own. Hunter shook his head and pressed a kiss against his copper hair, smothering his laughter._

* * *

"Sam? Sam, can you hear me?"

His eyes flickered open briefly for a second, just long enough to watch Aqua's scars disappear and a twisting symbol to swivel into place on  _her_  cheek, and then darkness claimed him again.

* * *

_"What did the Guardians have to say, my son?"_

_He bit his lip as he looked up at his father, scratching his wrist absentmindedly. His father looked back serenely, as did the other around the table. None would rush him, as the words the Guardians spoke often left the messenger disorientated for a while. Gently, Hunter intertwined their fingers, grounding him._

_"Proteus?"  
"They...they gave me a prophesy, and I think it's to do with The War. With me and with...Abaddon"_

_Mutterings and hisses broke out among the table; his father's serene face splintered into fury at the sound of his brother's name and Hunter didn't try to repress his furious snarl, pulling Proteus into his side protectively._

_"What is it, my son?" His father's face smoothed and his voice was softened, conscious of his son's past with Abaddon. Proteus swallowed and looked up at Hunter. The fury had not left his Entwined's eyes, but they softened and he smiled reassuringly at him. Taking a breath, he nodded and recalled it, line-by-line._

_"The day will come where our world will die"  
"Obvious. Our world is going to die; our guardian is going to pull away from us."_

_"Our children scattered across the sky"  
"We will be refugees, scattered across the stars"_

_"A world unknown will call them near"  
"Again, simple to decipher. We will find a new home."_

_"An untold power hidden here"_  
"That could be anything."  
"Or," Heads snapped around to his father, who was staring at him unflinchingly, "Anyone."

_"A champion who will dance with death"_  
Again, his father did not remove his gaze from him. "It's you, isn't it, my son?"  
He gazed back for a moment, then bowed his head and pulled his cream undershirt back to display a twisting symbol that had been burned there when one of the Guardians had clasped his shoulder. At the sight of it, Hunter gave a weak moan and pulled him against him even tighter, as if to shield him from this future.

_"Only saved by bonded's breath."  
Heads now snapped to Hunter, who couldn't help but sigh in relief slightly. 'He'll be okay', he chanted to himself, 'I'll be with him. I'll keep him safe'_

_"At war for peace, our children cry"_  
Silence echoed around the table before Dijon broke it gruffly, tightened his arm around Bahadu's waist. "The War."  
He nodded softly before swallowing and continuing.

_"There is more than first meets the eye."  
"That could be anything!" Batel huffed, running her hands through her bright hair. Her Entwined shushed her gently, stroking her hair. He understood her frustration; he too was irritated at the lack of information. He gazed across the table with violet eyes, watching his brother and his Entwined keep their masks up to stop anyone from seeing their true fear. He _hated _what his brother's Entwined was going to be put through and he silently cursed the Guardians._  
'Hasn't Proteus been through enough, without this as well?'

_"Our home returned, our children free"_  
"Finally, some damn good news!"  
Pyrrhos let out a laugh and punched the air, fist-bumping Bahadur. The sombre atmosphere was broken for a moment as relived smiles broke out on their faces. It only lasted a few moments as they were brought back down when Proteus was prompted to continue. He glanced at Hunter and then kept his eyes on the table as he recited it softly.

_"A champion's life was the fee"  
The room seemed to plunge into ice as they stared at the Consort, who refused to meet anyone's eyes. No-one so much as breathed, as if making a sound would make what he had just said true. The silence rang for several more minutes before the heir's hand came down on the table with an echoing crack.  
"No."  
Hunter's eyes were burning as he held Proteus tightly, so intertwined it was hard to tell where each half ended and the other began. "I won't let that happen."  
"Hunter...if it's for our home-"  
"_ _ **No!**_ _" He took a steadying breath, as if he had been running for miles, "_ _ **You**_ _are my home. I will_ _ **not**_ _lose you."  
They stared each other down, neither of them breaking eye contact until Theokleia cleared her throat. "We can discuss this-"  
"There is _ _ **nothing**_ _to discuss!"_  
"-Hunter!"  
"-LATER! Proteus, continue."

_"The battle is over; the war has just begun"_  
"Whoa whoa whoa. Hold on. What the-!"  
"I think..." Proteus flushed when he was the centre of attention once more, "I think that has more to do with the Guardians."  
"What do you mean, son?"  
"Well...think about it." Blue eyes which seemed to contain lightening glanced around the table, "The Guardians are thousands of millennia old. Therefore, is it not wise to suggest that their scale of time is skewed compare to ours? A war spanning decades for us-"  
"-May be only what they see as a small fight." Understanding bloomed in Hunter's bright eyes. "So when we finish our war-"  
"-It's only the beginning of a war for them."  
"But," Pyrrhos shook his head, "That implies that this 'fight' is the start of a war. So...we'd be on one side and Abaddon's minions on the other. But if we win this war, how would they keep fighting?"  
"..." Hunter and Proteus shared another long, loaded look before the heir answered,  
"We mustn't be able to completely finish them off, so we try again and again through...we think...reincarnation. For all of us, until we stop them for once and for all."  
"What makes you thing that?" Bahadur leaned forward, hazel eyes kept flat to stop how he really felt about fighting in the same goddamn war over and over again leaking through.  
"The last line." Proteus tucked a strand of copper behind his ear.

_"The way it shall remain 'til the day when all are one._  
It sounds like this will keep repeating over and over again until we both agree that the war truly is over."  
"Abaddon will never admit defeat. Nor will we."  
"Exactly."

* * *

Shocking blue eyes flew open with a gasp and Sam pushed himself up as quickly as he could, due to the unfamiliar surroundings. Immediately after sitting up, he collapsed back onto his back again with a strangled cry as fire and barbed wire seemed to tear up and down his chest. His vision blurred as familiar hands held him down, murmuring soothingly to him. When the pain had receded, he blinked up at Miles's drawn face. He coughed a few times, and then pulled another lop-sided grin up at him. Immediately the tension Miles was holding seemed to fly out of him and he slumped, running a hand through his hair with a sigh. The Unspeakable slowly pushed himself up and twisted so his legs dangled over the side of the bed, head cradled in his palms. In silence, he stared at the ground for a few moments before steeling his nerve.

"How many?" He immediately winced as his throat flared in agony, his voice hoarse and scratching.

"Two of our own, and four who were deflecting." Miles's voice was soft, but it did not soothe the blow in any way. Sam gripped his hair in response, his hands tightening into fists. He shook of Miles's hand on his shoulder and staggered to his feet, ignoring his brother's disapproval as he shouldered his way through the door and stiffly limped into the main body of the plane.

He swept his eyes across it, taking in the fact that every one of his Rebels had buddied-up with one of the new deflectors. Most were sitting down, bandaged or eating, while others were tending to those who needed help. Slowly, he made his way over to the far corner of the room, where six shapes were covered in a white cloth. As he weaved through those waiting there, silence stalked his every step, and each person he moved past reached out to brush their hand against some part of him, as if to confirm the fact their Unspeakable was alive and well. When he came to the two shapes of his fallen Rebels, he glanced up at those sitting beside them.

Kristina looked up with swollen eyes, reaching out to touch Sam. He twisted his hand so he was holding hers, rubbing the back of it with his thumb as he slowly drew back the cloth to display Maya's face, which had been cleaned and her hair brushed. Tenderly, he brushed a lock of hair off her face and smoothed his thumb across her cheekbone. Releasing a shuddering breath, he glanced over at Miles and bared his palm to him. Without hesitation, Miles sliced it open. Releasing Kristina's hand, he pressed his thumb into his palm and drew a bloody rune on Maya's forehead, one which spoke of her bravery and his pride in her. Kristina let out a choked sound of gratitude, which he waved away with a mummer of regret. He hesitated for a second, and then leaned down to pull her into a hug. The Rebel broke, clinging to her Unspeakable and sobbing, mumbles of confusion and pain slipping out. He rocked her as she cried, ignoring the pain in his ribs as he did so, until her cries tapered off and Overcast slipped into Sam's place with a respectful nod.

The Unspeakable exhaled shakily and dipped his head in response, taking a second to centre himself before moving on. He gripped Static's shoulder in sorrow, stroking his hair when the young Rebel leaned into him and soon soaked his bandage with tears for his sister. Sam mumbled soothingly to him, whispering a few random anecdotes of when he had trained with Slipstream when they both were just recruits, not even pretending to act like he wasn't affected. After the shaking Rebel had calmed slightly, Shadow slipped into place like Overcast had, pride in his eyes as he nodded at Sam. He nodded back, leaning down the draw the same bloodied rune on Slipstream's forehead and moving on with a final, sad smile at Static.

The noise in the room plummeted further when he drew a symbol for gratitude and sorrow on each of the fallen deflector's foreheads, each a young face he had never before seen, and never would again. Those who sat beside them looked up at him with wide, shocked eyes, flinching when he placed his hand on their shoulders. Each time they did so, the temperature in Sam's eyes dipped further and further, and when Sam gently uncovered one of their collarbones and saw the same brand that burned on his side, his hands trembled with fury. Taking a steadying breath, Sam spun on his heel, raising his chin when he saw the eyes of the room on him. When he spoke, the only sound that could be heard other than his voice was the low thrum of the engine.

"We lost two of our family today, and four who wanted to join us. Make no mistake; they were not simply caught in the crossfire, they were murdered. And they will be avenged."

As one, the room gave an echoing cry of agreement.

"We will not forget them, nor will we stand for their deaths. We will fight as strongly as we did today as, from this day onwards; we are at war with the Elites.

The cry of agreement grew louder, even as tears blurred the vision of some eyes.

"They want us dead. They want our allies dead. But we will  _not_  allow that. We will stand against them and we will triumph. We will triumph, because unlike the Elites who know what they must die for, we each have something that we must live for. I have a promised, a daughter, and brothers and sisters in arms. I will not stand aside and let those who are now nothing more than murders and cowards tear down the family I have built. And I know none of you will allow this either."

Those who could stand stood tall in accord, their shout echoing off the walls as they leaned on each other for strength.

"I cannot voice the pride I have for each of you. They way each of you fought today has made your ancestors proud, and I know each of you will continue to do so. I ask you to give me your all, and in return, I swear that I will protect each of you to the death and when our time comes, each of you will be able to walk confidently down the street with your face uncovered, sure in the knowledge that you and your own are completely safe from prosecution from the Elites."

His eyes blazed as Rebels cried in agreement.

* * *

It was another hour before Miles managed to find him again, cursing his ancestors as he did so. He had slipped into the crowd and managed to evade his brother until the blonde appeared behind him and yanked him up by the ear

"Ow ow ow! Son of a bitch! Miles-?!"

"You-you stupid, stubborn, selfless son of bitch-need to rest"

"I'm-"

"-I swear to the gods if you say 'fine'-!"

"-okay!"

One of the new recruits audibly gasped and pressed himself into his 'buddy's' (AKA, Watchdog's) side when Miles cuffed the Unspeakable around the back of his head. Striker glanced down at him, taking in his suddenly-terrified eyes, and pulled him off to the side. The normally-brusque Rebel pulled the younger into his chest, resting his chin on his curly black hair and running his hand up and down his back to soothe him. When the man's- _'He's not even a man, for Hera's sake. Sixteen at most, he shouldn't have been fighting, hasn't even finished his training yet'-_ shaking stopped, he pulled back to look him, making sure the boy's grey eyes met his blue.  
"You okay, kid?"  
" _Is he insane?"_ The boy hissed back at him, eyes darting away to where Sam and Miles were arguing quietly, flinching again when Overcast snuck up behind Sam and slapped him on the back of the head as well. "They are blatantly disrespecting him! Arguing with him in public! Do they want to be punished?!"  
Pleading eyes flicked back to Striker's, his whole body jerking when he only saw sympathy in the Rebel's eyes. Instead of answering him, he simply gestured to the other Rebels watching the trio's interaction. The kid stared at them, blinking at the exasperated, but fond look they were giving to their protesting Unspeakable. A few were even openly laughing at his plight! He turned back to Striker, more than a little confused. The Rebel didn't take his eyes off his Unspeakable, raising his voice just a bit when he felt the eyes of other recruits on him, but still quiet enough that Sam could not hear him.

"Sam is not Fault Line. He does not follow the rules of discipline Fault Line has enforced. If you genuinely disrespect someone, he will force you to make a public, sincere apology and complete two hours of suicides, as well as being his sparring partner for a week. If it was an accident, he will explain to you how you disrespected the victim and you will again be forced to make a public, sincere apology, and perform thirty minutes of suicides, to remind you that it was a disrespect. He encourages each of those under his command to, when they are comfortable; remove their masks when among our allies. He asks us to give his advice, takes it onboard and more often than not, puts it into action. He honestly wants what is best for each of us. He is not Fault Line."

The recruits stayed silent in their disbelief, unable to begin to believe the jaded Rebel.

* * *

Sam watched silently as six dancing flames simmered down to nothing in the orange sunlight. His Rebels waded their way back to shore, salt water trickling from their arms, legs and eyes as their heads bowed in mourning. While Sam had been unconscious, Miles had contacted those almost at base and informed them of how many had been lost, and the Rebels who were with the Allies had silently made the arrangements for the memorial service. As they were on an island with sandy beaches, they were able to send those who fell off like they did in the days of old; set afloat and burned at sunset.

The Cybertronian Holo-forms, Soldiers, Rangers, Rebels and Recruits mingled in among each other, silent in their sorrow. This wasn't the place for prejudice or mistrust; this was time to pay respect to those who had given their lives for the survival of the many.

When the flames went out, the Rebels and Recruits seemed to release a breath as one, before turning and making their way up to the block of apartment flats sectioned off for them, leaning on each other for support. The Soldiers melted away quickly after, slipping into their own barracks, as they were on a two month rotation.  
Miles let out a shuddering sigh, then threaded his fingers through Bee's and gently tugged. The Scout flicked his eyes over to where Sam still stood, hugging himself and eyes lost to something he couldn't see. However, Miles only shook his head in response, nodding up towards the housing complex and gently led Bee away, the Rangers and other Cybertronians following after a moment's hesitation.

Sam stood there, still lost in a daze as he gazed into the softly lapping water, the faces of the fallen staring back at him. It wasn't until he shivered and blinked out of his daze, that warm arm gently draped across his shoulders. Immediately, Sam curled into Orion's steady presence, pressing his face into the crook of his neck and relaxing minutely when his Promised wrapped his other arm around him and took his weight effortlessly.

* * *

"Query: Are you certain?"

"Yes, for Unicorn's sake! He's dead, mech, as is his youngling. He was murdered by the blasted 'Bots and those disgusting insects. Now, what are you going to do in return?"

"Retribution: Summon forces to Sol 3."

"Excellent."

* * *

Orion woke up to a hand lightly running through his hair and the soft scratch of pencil on paper. He yawned, blinking sleep from his eyes as he did so, and looked up at Sam. The human was propped up against the headboard, sketching lightly in his sketchbook and distractedly carding his fingers through Orion's hair. For a moment, the holo simply stared up at him, silently admiring his Promised bathed in the soft golden sunlight coming in through the ceiling-to-floor windows, before shifting to lean against the headboard with him. Snaking an arm around Sam's waist, he murmured happily when the human pressed a soft kiss against the corner of his mouth and rested his head on his shoulder, going back to his sketch.

After pressing a kiss against his hair, the mech glanced down at his drawing, spark squeezing tightly when he recognised the faces of those who had fallen. The two sat in silence until Sam finished his sketching and set the book to the side, tightening his jaw and closing his hands into fists. Orion gently wrapped his arm around Sam's waist, pressing a kiss against his hair as Sam twisted, tucking himself into Orion's side as he trembled. 

"I should have-"

"Don't." San stilled at the Prime's sharp command, relaxing as his Chosen lightly cupped the back of his neck . "You know as well as I do we cannot do this. Blaming ourselves for events outside our control is a path impossible to leave."

"I know, I just-" He broke off, shaking his head. "I just wish-"

"I know." The mech nodded slowly, lightly de-tangling the knots in Sam's hair, pausing when his eyes fell on the patch of bare shoulder Sam was unknowingly displaying from where Orion's too-large shirt had slipped slightly. He cocked his head to the side and lightly traced the strange mark which, for some unknown reason, was sending sickening streaks of forbidding through him.

"Darlin'? What's that?"

Sam glanced down at the mark, then completely froze, entire body stiffening before electric blue glyphs exploded across his skin and danced in his eyes. Before the Prime could so much as move, they were gone, and Sam was staring up at him in shock.

"We need to talk"


	39. Memories Shared

"Stop fidgeting."

"Your hands are cold!"

Sam leant against the edge of the table, crinkling his nose as Ratchet poked and prodded at the bruises on his neck and shoulder. The medic muttered something under his breath as he unwrapped the tight bandage around Sam's chest, humming lightly when it uncovered bruised, but healed skin. He did likewise with the one around his leg, nodding in satisfaction when the deep gorge in the human's leg had been reduced to a thin pink line overnight. Sam leant into Orion's side, relaxing into the warm arm around him and smiling softly when the mech pressed a kiss against his hair.

"Ratchet?"

"Apply this gel to the bruises and they'll be gone in a few days. Take these tablets for the pain and for Primus's sake, eat, sleep and hydrate to bring your energy levels back up. I'm putting you on bed rest for the rest of the day."

Despite frowning in displeasure and muttering something about a 'Mother hen', Sam nodded, dipping his head in respect for the medic and quickly slipped the shirt back on. He wasn't fool enough to argue with his medic, no matter how much he disagreed with the prescription. He sat down carefully, trying to hide a wince from the flare of pain that burned from his protesting ribs as he did so, at the head of the table beside Orion. Ratchet sat down beside Wheeljack, cracking his fingers as he did so. "Now, what have you called us here for?"  
Sam glanced around at the table meeting the eyes of each of the bots and Rangers, before landing on Miles. The blonde was leaning heavily on Bee, exhaustion from the day before weighing him down heavily, but managing to drag up a tired smile. They all-bar Mikaela and Hound who agreed to stay with the sparklings-had shown up in the large, still-sterile meeting room within ten minutes of being called. Each of them looked back at him with nothing but curiosity and respect in their eyes as they patiently waited for him to speak, though the femmes continued to throw a few curious and apprehensive glances over to where Barricade was sitting beside Prowl. After sharing a glance with Orion and tangling their fingers together, he pushed down the overwhelming sense of Déjà vu and recounted his dream.

* * *

Fig wanted to laugh. First day on their new base and the group had already been called into the largest white meeting room by the two leaders. If this was foreshadowing to how stressful his life was going to be, he was quitting and moving to a cottage in Ireland to be a hermit.

"So...you're trying to tell us, that we are the reincarnations of a bunch of mystical warriors who lived thousands of lifetimes ago?"

"...Please don't say it like that, I sound like a lunatic."

"We hang around with giant alien robots on our own free will; we could all be classified as lunatics."

"It does make sense though." Heads snapped around to stare at Miles, who was drumming his fingers lightly on the table. "Sam and I, we went against what was engraved in us from a young age without a second thought. When we were leaving S7, Will only had to nod at us, and we knew exactly what we were being ordered to do. Sam called Bee his brother after a few hours. Optimus trusted Sam with the freaking life-force of his race. Devlin-"  
"-you can start calling me Andrew anytime you like-"  
"- _Andrew_ knew it was pointless to send me away in Mission City. You guys dropped everything and showed up to our school when the bomb went off. Hell, we ran into a _warzone_ with each other, and trusted each other's word, despite only having met a few hours previous. Does that seem like something we'd do without knowing the person first?"

Silence echoed around the table for a few moments, before Johnson let out a snort and shook his head.

"Michael?"

"Just over a year ago I was in Qatar, now I'm working with alien robots and it turns out I am the reincarnation of a guy who may or may not have been royalty and fought against a guy who may or may have not been a demon. What the fuck happened to my life, man?"

Sam tried to keep his face straight, but when Bee glanced over at him, he lost it. Dropping his head into his arms, he completely cracked-up, rapidly followed by the rest of the table. The laughs lasted for a few minutes more, until they were interrupted by the red flashing from Orion's earpiece. Immediately, the table went silent as the Prime set it on the table and flicked one of the tiny switches there which threw an image up on the wall.

"Skywarp."

The mech was glancing around himself nervously, the walls behind him giving away the fact that he was in a warehouse somewhere. "Look, Prime, I don't have a lot of time. I don't wanna do this, but we have a whole 'I scratch your back, you scratch mine' thing going on here. That is a really weird phrase though, you know? Why would I want to scratch your back? Pit, why would I want you to scratch mine? That's got to be extremely unhygienic-"

"-Skywarp!"

Prime wasn't the only one who blinked in surprise when the mech's mouth snapped shut and his head tilted slightly, baring his neck to the Prime. Sam narrowed his eyes and shared a look with Ironhide, who's forehead was furrowed in contemplation.

_'Why would a Decepticon-even a vaguely milder one like Skywarp-have any sort of urge to submit to Prime?'_

Refusing to miss a beat, the Prime cleared the confusion from his eyes. "The point?"

"Soundwave thinks Barricade and Frenzy are dead and is out for your energon and has called in reinforcements whose ETA is less than a few months."

" _Fuck!"_ Barricade propped his elbows on the table and gripped his hair, cussing under his breath viciously. Automatically, Prowl placed a soothing hand on his shoulder, lightly flushing from the looks of approval the two Elites and the First Arrivals gave him in response.

"Thank you. You didn't have to do this."

When Skywarp looked up, the table froze at the look in his optics. "You really think only you lot want this war to end? Or that all of us want some tyrant ruling over us? You're fighting to keep your family safe. Is it so hard to think that's what some of us are doing too?"

He vanished before anyone could speak, leaving a thick silence in his wake. Eventually, Prime release a low, shaky breath as he ran his fingers through his hair. He stood, rising to full height and the others snapped up with him. "Okay, we start intensive training at 0600 tomorrow. Rangers, Rebels and Autobots training together. I want manoeuvres-both defensive and offensive-drawn up ASAP. I want us working together until we know each other's next move, is that clear?"

They each immediately snapped into the Autobot salute; left arm stretched straight out from their body and right arm inwards, fingertips pressed together and pressed over their heart/spark to show they would not fire, accompanied by a sharp half-bow. Prime saluted back, with his left fingertips pushed together and pressed into the small of his back.

Just as they moved out of the salute, a soft knock dragged their attention to the door, which opened at Prime's command. It swung open, and Miles practically vaulted over to stand almost flush with Sam's left hand side as Aisling and Shadow-face apologetic-stepped in the doorway.

"What do you want?" The blonde all but hissed, entire posture set to spring. The other glanced between the two, and all but the femmes sucked a sharp breath through their teeth as the girl drew down the hood of her cloak and answered.

"With respect, I beg audience with the Unspeakable."

Copper hair, lithe build and that _voice_ all told them who she was.

_'-You've_ _**ruined** _ _us! Our family is dead!-'_

Ratchet _snarled_ , jerking forward as if to rip off the head of the human who had tried to kill his youngling. The other bots let out low, warning growls at her, seeing only an enemy.

She had tried to kill a youngling and had shot their Prime's Chosen. There was no coming back from that.

"The _hell_ you are. Get the hell out-"

"What do you want?"

Miles whirled on him, aghast. "Sam, you don't have to-"

"I have some information on Fault Line and his plans...especially those involving you. I wish to discuss them with you. Alone."

"No." The Unspeakable's face was impassive as he answered. "Anything you need to say can be said in front those standing before you."

"Are you sure you want them to hear about his detailed plans of how he wants to take you to bed and break you to be his bitch?"

She flinched back when Orion guttural snarl, teeth barred angrily. Somewhat surprisingly, Elita, Ironhide and Will echoed his snarl, so much so you could almost see their hackles rising. Sam's face remained impassive as he answered, eyes flat. "Like I said, those in the room must be in the know. Draw up said plans and have them for me by 0800 tomorrow."

Eyes burning, she bowed stiffly and twisted out the door. Shadow lingered for a moment, voice soft as he spoke to the two Elites. "We have them covered, my liege. Rest today, and we can start afresh tomorrow."

After sharing a glance with Orion, Sam nodded, but bemoaned him as he left. "Really, Shadow? Can we stop with the 'My liege?'".  
The TIC paused before turning back and dipping his head. "Of course," then he added with a smirk, "my Lord."

Miles let out a snort at that, cracking a smile when Sam rolled his eyes and leant into Orion's side lightly, exhaustion sneaking up and dragging him down. The mech looked down at him, and Miles's smile became soft at the devoted look in his eyes. He glanced up at the others waiting there, snaking his arm around Sam's waist.  
"Sideswipe, Mirage, please explain everything to the femmes. I'll be along in about half an hour to clear anything else up. Everyone else, please get base set up as quickly as possible, and I'll be with you once I'm finished with them."  
"What are you doing now?"

Sam let out a noise he would later deny all knowledge of when Orion swept him up into his arms easily, as if he had just lifted Quickfire. "Making sure you actually get bed rest."

Miles only got a few seconds of laughter before Bee had grabbed him too, much to the delight of those still in the room. When the duo's protests had faded down the hallway, Chromia turned to Mirage and Sideswipe with a grin, cracking her knuckles as she did so.

"Explain away boys, and start with how OP's call got so messed up the Jazzy boy over there was declared OIA."

"Nah, hot stuff, I was OIA."

The femmes blinked at Jazz, who was lounging back in his chair seemingly without a care in the world. Arcee shook her head, leaning forward. "So...you were offlined for a few clicks?"

"Nope, for quite a few Orn."

"...Then how the Pit are you alive now?" Moonracer hissed, leaning across the table and twitching her shoulders in annoyance.

"Sam."

"Sam?"

"Sam."

"...Yeah, that's probably going to be most of the answers to your questions, but the way." Mirage offered sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck in apology.

* * *

Hours later and near-silently, Orion slipped into their bedroom. Except for the bed itself and the cardboard boxes in which their important bits and pieces had been packed in, the room was stark, ready to be painted. The stack of paperwork Sam had argued and compromised for was neatly stacked and signed at the side of the bed which contained two of the most precious beings in Orion's life. Sam was dozing lightly in the center of the bed while Quickfire slept on his chest peacefully, Sam's hand resting lightly on her back and his fingers still tracing softly across her helm. Before the holo had got in so much as a step in the door, Sam's eyes cracked open and the fingers that had been tracing were wrapped around the hilt of a dagger.

He blinked a few more times, before smiling softly and banishing the dagger-' _where the Pit was it going?!'-_ soundlessly. Orion moved silently to the bed and lifted Quickfire gently, pressing a kiss to Sam's nose and soothing her when she fussed groggily.

The warm feeling in his chest that has nothing to do with his spark glowed as he tucked his daughter in and pressed a kiss to her helm. He lingered in the doorway for a moment, just caught up in the fact that she was _his,_ before he slipped back into him and Sam's bedroom.

Sam was up, sitting cross-legged on the bed with a leather-bound copy of Sherlock Holmes on his lap. After changing for bed and slipping in beside him, he blinked when he saw Sam was not reading. Instead, he was looking at a picture that had been slotted into the pages of the book. It was well worn, the edges curled and it had been folded so many times it threatened to split into quarters, but Sam was staring at it like it was a priceless treasure.

"Didn't even know it was here." His voice was rough and cracked as he stared, "Thought it burned with the rest."

Another reason to curse the Elites.

Orion took a closer look, and then wrapped his arm around Sam's shoulders. The photo contained a beautiful woman kneeling on a patch of bright green grass with man's arm around her shoulder. He didn't need to ask to know it was Sam's parents. The man's lips and nose was Sam's, but the rest of his features-bar the colour of his eyes-were identical to his mother's. Even his smile, which shouldn't make sense, but somehow did. For a moment, Orion stared at the two of them, and for a split-second, wondered what Sam would have been like, had he been raised by the woman with music in her eyes and the man with joy on his lips. He pushed away that thought as he glanced down at the little boy in his mother's arms, smiling softly at the utter joy that was in his eyes. It was a look he had seen very rarely, only twice since he had met him. As he dragged his eyes up, they fell on something that made him almost double-take. Up on Ronald Witwicky's shoulders was curly haired girl grinning at the camera.

"Who is this?" Orion gestured to the young girl, running a dozen scenarios through his head. The human brushed his fingers across the girl's hair, a smiling softly and sadly as he did so.  
"That was my sister, Sophie."  
The mech snapped his head around, eyebrows practically to his hairline. "Was she-?"  
"No. Sophie was never involved in S7."  
Sam continued to stare for a moment, before closing the book gently and setting it on the floor. He turned back, smiling when he seen Orion lay down and followed his lead, curling up beside him and resting his head on his chest. Orion curled his arm up to gently play with Sam's hair, waiting patiently in silence until Sam was ready to break it.  
"Do you know how my parents died?"  
"No." Orion's throat was dry and his voice was soft as he gently traced his fingers up and down Sam's arm. "The records were sealed against us, and I did not want to pry."  
Sam was silent for a long moment before he spoke again, in an almost-whisper. "I was six. We were going up to stay with my aunt and uncle for a few weeks over summer, and were heading up the freeway. We cut across this Camaro to avoid getting hit by some kid in a green car. The Camaro...transformed."  
If he noticed Orion going stock-still, he did not mention it.  
"It threw the car. Dad was dead before he hit that ground. Mom died later. Sophie and I got out more or less okay. It was the first time the AllSpark reacted to me; it took control and dragged everyone out of the car. When I woke up, they were both dead and Sophie was in shock. I called the ambulance, and a few hours later, Tom showed up. Turns out he pulled some strings in S7. They got me, but Sophie was never to be approached. She was adopted by a really nice family, but they died a few months later in a boating accident, and she went to stay with my grandmother. We kept in touch until halfway through my first year in S7, when Tom told me to stop contacting her, as our enemies would use her against us. Two days later, he told me they were both dead; shot in the head by a drug gang I was in the final stages of shutting down for my initiation."  
"Darlin', I am _so_ -"  
"-Don't, Orion. Please."  
"If I had been harsher against the Cons-"  
"Then you would be no better than them. This wasn't your fault."  
"I should have-"  
"Should have what?" The human snapped up, eyes burning. "Ordered for Kill On Sight? Say you killed the Con. I still would have ended up in S7 eventually, only I wouldn't have advanced as fast due to the fact I no longer had _nothing_ in my life other than training. Which means I wouldn't have been an Elite at the time Quickfire was born, wouldn't have been able to save her. They would have _tortured and killed our_ _ **baby!**_ "  
Orion shot up and wrapped his arms around his trembling Chosen, murmuring to him softly.  
"It's okay, darlin'. She is safe, sleeping in the room next to us. "  
"They would have _hurt-"_  
"-but they _didn't_. You got her she's okay, they never laid a _finger_ on her."  
"-I love her so much, I-"  
"-I know darlin', and she knows. She _knows_ how much you love her. How much _we_ love her."  
Sam kept his face pressed into Orion's neck, inhaling his faintly strawberry-like sent to calm himself down, as even the _thought_ of Fault Line touching his daughter was enough to turn his stomach. The mech hummed nonsense to him until his heartbeat was slow and steady, the mech's own spark settling in contentment, only to flare up angrily again when his eyes were drawn to the rainbow of bruises which encircled Sam's neck. The human sighed softly, nuzzling into the mech and shifting to straddle him properly.  
"They don't hurt, sweetheart. Ratchet's gel worked wonders."  
"I don't care. I'll kill him for marking you, for _forcing_ himself on you." He spit the word out like poison, the concept of doing such on Cybertron was so unthinkable that not even _Megatron_ had done such a horror. Sam shrugged softly, peppering kisses across Orion's neck and jaw-line until he sighed and relaxed slightly.  
"He wasn't always like that. He used to be the cool older cousin who taught me how to skateboard and encouraged me to draw. Even when I was in S7, he was always trying to make me laugh, and helped me through nightmares. He was so proud of me when I became an Elite. It wasn't until Esme died, that he snapped."

"I don't understand that." Orion admitted softly, "How was he in a relationship with his cousin?"  
"He wasn't, not really. His mother was the wife of a drug lord Tom busted, who shot herself in the head, rather than leave the lavish lifestyle she had lived. Jason was only a few weeks old, and Tom's wife refused to have any kids, so he took him and raised him as his own, with help from my grandma. My mom had three siblings; Tom, her elder brother, and Isabella and Abigail, her twin older sisters. Isabella pledged herself to my Dad's eldest brother Charlie, and they had Esme and Aisling. Esme and Tom didn't meet until they were fourteen, and they fell in love at first fight."  
Sam finished with a strangled laugh, shaking his head slightly.

Orion frowned, but said nothing as he nodded. Sam merely laughed softly, nipping his collarbone lightly. "What? I can practically hear the gear shifting."  
"...Why didn't anybody else fight for you, when you were orphaned?"  
"They were too busy. Abigail's daughter, Melody, AKA Downpour, had just begun her training. A week after mom and dad, my uncle Charlie was shot dead in his back yard by an old target. My dad's youngest older brother, who was only a year older than him, had died a few months previous, and his other brother was on an undercover mission which would kill him in the next month. My dad's little sister, Lillith, just didn't want me."

"Wait, _all_ of your uncles and aunts were in S7? Your parents-?"

"No. They were the youngest of their families, so their duties would be diplomatic and they would be the 'face' of their bloodlines. They started training for that when they were fourteen, met, and fell in love. When they realized they were going to be shipped off to arranged marriages, they ran away together and pledged themselves to each other. My grandparents actually ended up approving of the pledge, as it tied together the two strongest bloodlines in S7. My parents never had anything to do with S7, other than diplomatic dinners and negations."

"What were your parents like?"

"My mother was...bizarre, to put it mildly. Normal was just not a thing for her. She would have _loved_ all of this." The red-head's shoulder shook softly as he laughed, grinning into Orion's shirt. "She wrote for a column in our local newspaper; sold her art to a few galleries and private collections; tutored the kids on our street; and taught guitar and piano at the youth club. She spoke so many different languages; I don't think we ever went through a full _sentence_ without her throwing in foreign equivalent. She was a practicing Wiccan, so she had crystals on practically every surface of our house, and she took great joy out of driving dad mad."

"You take after her, then?"

Orion only laughed when Sam flicked him, prompting him to go on wordlessly.

"Yeah, I suppose I do. I look more like her, and act more like her than I did Dad. He had a real temper which flared-up often, but he was never violent or anything, and it was over in minutes."

"So, your mother was the type to let it build up and build up until she exploded and made the guilty party regret ever being born?"

"How did you know that?"

"You said she was like you."

"Great, I'm dating a comedian." The human let out a startled yelp which dissolved into shrikes of laughter when the holo quirked his fingers into Sam's ribs, tickling the sass straight out of him. When he was breathless and boneless, he all but collapsed into Orion's chest, resting his ear against the holo's spark and smiling softly when Orion wrapped his arms around him in response.

"Your father?"

"He was a lawyer, and a pretty good one at that too. He built classic cars back up from scratch in his spare time, and he was always the one to read me stories before bed. He taught me about the stars, and used to make little treasure hunts, where I'd have to figure out a few riddles to get a prize. He also bought me a computer for my sixth birthday." Sam laughed at the memory, shaking his head, "Mom thought he was completely insane, until she realized he was teaching me how to make my own games out of codes, which she then thought was a brilliant idea, as it was clearly going to make me rich."

Orion nodded slowly, stroking Sam's hair softly as he twisted his neck to press a sideways-kiss against Sam's forehead. "Thank-you for telling me."

Sam shook his head in reply. "Thank-you for listening. It actually feels pretty great to have that all off my chest."

The raven haired mech nodded again, tilting his head back against the headboard before speaking quietly, in the tone of a confession.

"The mech I call my generator isn't mine by energon. My Carrier and my biological Generator belonged to the Alpha Class and were pushed into an arranged Linking. My Generator had always been rough, but after my Carrier brought my eldest brother, Magnus, Maximus and myself onto Cybertron, he became abusive. The fact that it is so rare on Cybertron led to no-one believing my Carrier. She put up with it, until she came home to him striking Magnus, another unheard-of occurrence, especially in an Alpha Class. She overpowered him and he stormed out to go get overcharged at some club. My Carrier waited until she felt him become totally overcharged over their link, and cut it, then gathered us up and ran. She was disowned and turned away from my Predecessor Creators' door, and those of each of her family. Eventually, she made her way to the docks, and we recharged in a doorway for three Orns, until a dockworker of the Omega Class found us and took us in. A megavorn later, and they were bonded, and I was calling him Generator."

Sam leant back to cup Orion's face and smooth his Prime glyph with his thumb. "Your Carrier is one of the bravest beings I've ever heard of, and your Generator is beyond lucky to have you as his Sparkling."

The holo exhaled shakily, shaking his head slightly in surprise. "You're right, that does feel better."

Sam smiled at him, leaning in to kiss him gently, and sighing softly when they broke apart. "I love you." He whispered softly, grinning when the holo repeated him and kissed him again, this time a little deeper, a little stronger, and a little longer. Sam pulled back with damp lips and dark eyes, lips curling upwards when he saw the equally-wild look in Orion's eyes, and slowly trailed his fingers down the holo's chest. He let out a groan, snagging Sam's fingers as the brushed against the band of his sweatpants.

"Darlin', you're supposed to be resting, and I don't want to hurt you..."

Sam kissed him again, trailing his lips across his jaw until they brushed against his ear. "Well, I'll be nice and rested in the morning, so just stay like this, and let me take control."

" _Primus"_

* * *

The door hit the wall with a bang and Sam snapped awake, twisting to grab the daggers off the ground by the bed and launched them at the shape there, who dropped at the last moment to avoid them. It snapped back up and Orion snarled and snapped his 'human' sword, which had been pulled out of subspace, against the intruder's throat with one hand and aimed his gun with the other. Sam twisted his wrists and the daggers pulled themselves out of the door and spun into his hands again, waiting eagerly for their master to throw them once more. When the two leaders blinked the dust from their eyes and commanded the lights on, they both snapped at the mech standing there.

**_"Ironhide?!"_ **

Orion lowered his weapons even as Sam made a strangled noise in his throat and ducked behind the strong breadth of his mech's back. Suddenly realizing that while the blankets saved them from any real embarrassment, his Chosen was still very bare and conquerable, caused the holo to growl a warning at his Protector, who bared his neck to the side while keeping his eyes on the ceiling.

"Report." The growl still underlined his command, though his primal programming was being soothed as Sam pressed himself flush against his back and wrapped his arms around him, whispering soothing sounds and promises of belonging to him.

"There three unknown going to hit Ireland in a few hours, and two others going to hit mainland India in one."

Optimus twisted slightly to look Sam in the eye. "Will you assemble a squad?"  
He didn't hesitate. "Six of us should be enough."  
"And India?"  
"Sideswipe and Mirage, with two Elites, a Ranger and a handful of soldiers."

"Ironhide."

"Affirmative. I'll sort them out now."

Just before he left, he threw Sam a look which looked a hell of a lot like respect and approval.


	40. Antepenultimate

"We should come here on holiday again." Miles slung his arm around Sam's shoulder as casually circled City Hall. Belfast was bustling as usual, sprawling students taking advantage of the surprising sunlight out on the green grass surrounding City Hall and blaring music, American tourists snapping pictures while wearing quirky Irish shirts* and proclaiming about their 'Irish heritage', and Jehovah's Witnesses preaching as usual. "The last one was kinda short".

Sam narrowed his eyes, turning to stare at the blonde incredulously. "We were here on a three hour raid."

"That's why we need a holiday!"

The teen rolled his eyes and tapped his earpiece twice. "Any luck yet?"

"Negative." He could hear the irritation in Epps' voice. "We're gonna scan the city again, but we're still coming up blank. They're cloaking their sparks, so the Bots can't see shit."

The Elite frowned, glancing around himself. "Yeah...keep me posted-"

"-Hi! You look lost, can I help you?"

Both teens bit back groans as a 'Belfast City Tours!' guide popped out of the sidewalk like a daisy, fixed, cheery smile and obnoxious yellow shirt blaring.

"No, we're fine, thanks-"

"Oh, you're _American!_ Is this your first time in Belfast? How long are you staying, as you _have_ to see the Peace Walls before you leave! _Thousands_ flock to see them every year! And I _must_ recommend-"

"Thank you, but we're fine." Plastering a smile across his face, Sam forcibly ignored Epps' sudden squawk in his ear. "This is actually my cousin's annual trip to Belfast, so he's very familiar with the layout of the city."

"Oh, so you're a native? Of course, I should have guessed with your hair! But, where exactly are you from? That's not a Belfast accent for sure!"

The red-head's smile became something that was more barred teeth as Epps let out a roar of laughter, and Miles's shoulder started to tremble. "Armagh, and sorry, but we really do have to go."

He none-too-gently dragged his brother to the other side of the square, hissing at the Ranger to stop laughing and honest-to-god _pouting._ Miles nudged him; the two of them bickering childishly until Sam suddenly snapped straight, like steel had been injected into his spine.

"Sam?"

"Over there"

The blonde snapped around to see where his brother was staring at, his eyes falling on one of the police armored trucks-a frequent sight in Belfast-and his eyes narrowing.

"How long has that been sitting there?"

"This is the fourth time we've circled, at it's still there. Look at the driver though."

Eyes sharp, Miles scanned the man's profile. Cop uniform, moustache, dark eyes-

Wait.

 _Cop_ uniform?

"That's the same holo Cade used when he corned me in the warehouse."

"... _Alpha code 47: Con on Donegall Square E. Secreting under a Land Rover Tangi, license plate PI62 YRG. "_

Tapping against his headset again, the Unspeakable automatically hacked into the speakers within a four street radius.

" _Bomb on Donegall Square E, Bomb on Donegall Square E this is not a drill. Immediately evacuate the surrounding area."_ He had just a moment to be thankful that most of the civilians were educated or jaded enough not to cause mass hysteria and get the hell outta dodge, before he and Miles were scaling the side of the nearest building and gearing up to launch themselves onto the Con's back.

With a roar, the truck transformed. Unlike when the Bots did so and made it look like a graceful, dignified dance, this was ugly and sharp and seemed like a monster bursting from a cage.

And of course, the bus further up the street pulled a U-Turn so sharp it overbalanced and transformed with a flip, and the news helicopter that had be circling around the City center plunged, landing pede first on City Hall roof.

The two just had a second to think " _Aw fuck"_ before Optimus and Bumblebee screeched around the corner and tackled a Con each, with the human squad following in jeeps seconds later.

* * *

 _'Thank God they're not in the cities.'_ Andrew sighed in relief, glancing over at Shadow, who was nodding thoughtfully. Overcast was silent in the back of the pick-up, frowning out the window. Sideswipe and Mirage had led the pick-up containing the humans well away from the cities and into the Indian countryside, following the two sparks on their scanner.

"Wrong."

Andrew snapped up, glancing back at Overcast. The Elite shook his head, frowning as he did so. "A N-Decepticon would never land this far out. They want to cause as much death and disruption as possible. These two landed out in the country and are just waiting there? Not following the MO."

"Yeah well..." The ginger shook his head. "Look how gittey Sideswipe is, he's practically bouncing in his shocks. These guys must be dangerous."

Eyes which were so dark it was near-impossible to see where the pupil ended stared back unflinchingly.

"Let's hope."

* * *

They were concentrating on their Con.

They were concentrating on their Con.

They were concentration on their Con, and very firmly not the fact that their partners _were dancing across their Con._

Optimus and Bumblebee had taken a Con each, while the soldiers followed their Ranger's barked commands. A surprisingly good connection was taking place between bots and the soldiers weaving among their feet. The soldiers attacked the Con's lower half, while the bot fought the upper half.

Bumblebee dodged a punch and risked a look back at the Elites. The other four Elites circled the Con like vultures, twisting in and out of it's stumbling feet. On the Con itself, Sam and Miles ran up and down the arms and swung from limb to limb like they were playing on a jungle-gym. The only difference was, every time they came the a wrist-or come to think of it, anywhere where the mech would have fired from- Sam stabbed down with his dagger or Miles would fire an arrow via his crossbow. The affected area would somehow become smeared with a glowing green substance, as if some sort of strange gel had rubbed across it.

He dodged another punch from the Helicopter and smashed his elbow into its face, 'grinning' down at the soldiers when the Con stumbled to his knees and chirping happily when the humans tentatively smiled back at him.

Optimus spat out a mouthful of energon and drove his blade into the Con's shoulder, forcing him onto his knees with a keen. The soldiers at his feet quickly secured him with the help of the Prime, dipping their heads in respect for him, which he returned with a soft smile.

He turned around just in time to see the last Con crash to the ground and Sam daintily drop of his helm, fixing his jacket from where it had moved out of place and brushing some energon and blood-which had mixed to a strange glowing purple substance-off the side of his face.

Miles followed him, pausing to lift a few of his wayward arrows off the ground before falling into step. When the two Bots' optics fell on the legs of the mech, the movements of the Elites clicked into place. The mech's legs were bound by some sort of thin, metal rope-which was what the Elites had been doing when they danced around his feet.

"Why didn't he fire anything?" Epps called out over the headsets, his disgruntlement at having to sit out of the sight and play 'big brother' during the fight, clear in his voice.

"Dismantled his weapons systems via a virus which is implanted in a gel and used to coat Mile's arrow tips and my daggers with."

The two Autobots 'blinked' and Epps spluttered, before Optimus shook his helm. "And you were going to share this with the class...when?"

The human stuck his tongue out at him, lips quirking when Optimus rolled his optics fondly. "This was just the test-drive. I was going to share after I was sure that it won't melt the flesh off my hands."

Before Optimus responded, the downed Con let out a profanity-filled screech, which gained him a raised eyebrow and two optic ridges.

 _"Rude..."_ The Unspeakable muttered under his breath as he ducked into a nearby shop, and pulled a few cases of Red Bull out of the fridges.

"Are you _stealing?"_ Bumblebee pointedly ignored the still-swearing Con, eyeing the human with suspicion. Sam turned to stare at him, giving him such a bitch face he dragged a few chuckles out of the soldiers.

"Hell Bee, whadaya think I am, an _animal?"_ He slapped a handful of dollars onto the counter and jotted a quick message down on the memo pad beside the till.

' _Took a few cases of Red Bull, this should cover it. Thanks mate :)'_

He sauntered out, throwing the cans to the Elites and soldiers before swinging himself onto Optimus's open palm and darting up his arm. He snuggled into his shoulder and tipped his can at Miles, who had done likewise to Bumblebee. The two Autobots shared identical 'This is my life and these are my choices' looks, before pulling two perfectly shaped silver balls out of sub-space. Moving silently, they stood either side of the first Con and let them go, letting them hover mid-air. The four balls immediately began shaking, before a thin, electric blue light, like a lazer, shot out of each one. They four beams met in a spot just above the Con and a dome of blue light formed around the mech before, with a flash and a linger smell of ozone, the mech vanished and the light dissipated.

The soldiers stared, opened-mouthed. The Elites' eyes widened behind their masks, the only form of surprise they would allow themselves to to show, while Epps screeched in Sam's ear about " _WHAT THE FUCKING HELL WAS THAT MASSIVE ENERGY SPIKE JESUS CHRIST ARE YOU LOT STILL ALIVE?!"_

"So...you gonna share with the class, OP?" Miles drawled from his vantage point, taking another sip of his energy drink. Don't get him wrong, if that had happened a few months ago, both Elites would have slashed and ran. But, seeing as they were the mechs who were pretty much their everything, they both trusted them enough to give them the benefit of the doubt.

(And somehow, Miles was pretty sure he'd be sleeping on the couch if he had reacted as usual.)

"Transportation device. Wheeljack's been working on it since he landed, and took out three labs doing so."

" _Oh!_ _That's_ why finance has been so restrictive lately?"

"Yeah." Bee nodded as he grabbed his two pieces and moved to the next Con. "Turns out restocking the lab is very expensive."

The Con vanished, mid-profanity. "Where are you sending them?"

"Holding cells, until we figure out what to do with them. We're contemplating sending them back to Cybertron for trial."

Whatever Sam was going to reply was drowned out by a piercing police siren, and a colourful curse from Miles. "And that's our cue to go."

The humans quickly pilled back into the jeeps and the Autobots sent the last Con to its cell, before transforming fluidly around their human's until they were both sitting in their passenger seats, taking another sip of their unspilled can's calmly.

* * *

Mirage swore as Sideswipe slammed into a neck-breaking stop, swerving around him and transforming with a roll. The jeeps following the two mechs swerved and squealed to a stop as they tried to avoid the frozen mech.  
"What the _PIT_ Sides?! You trying to _kill_ us?  
...Sides?  
Sideswipe?"

The silver Corvette Stingray continued to stay frozen for a moment, before he _launched_ himself into transformation. He only stayed still long enough for Mirage to catch the shock/hope/love whirlwind of emotions on the mech's face before he took off, tearing across the grass heedlessly. Mirage sprinted after him, hollering at him to 'calm down' and 'are you fragging suicidal _stop!'_ before the indigo mech jerked to a stop.

Two mechs were sprinting towards Sideswipe, still in their protoform, screaming his name.

Two autobots.

It wasn't until the humans caught up, that he jolted out of his shock. Andrew roared up at him, yanking him out of his stupor with a kick.  
" _WHAT ARE WE DEALING WITH?!"_

 _"_ Friends. They're friends."

_"Who?!"_

_"_ That's..." He shook his head, trying to shake sense into himself, "that's Sunstreaker and Bluestreak. Sideswipe's mates."

Andrew stared at the three mechs, before dropping his voice to a hiss. " _I thought you said they were dead!"_

 _"_ They were as good as. They dropped off the map... _vorns_ ago. We thought-we thought they were gone."

Andrew glanced back at them, then shook his head with a soft smile as he watched Sideswipe bury his head in Sunstreaker's neck as he held Bluestreak close.

* * *

Epps snorted, only to throw his hands up at Sam and Orion's combined glare. "I'm sorry man, but of all the things...you're scared of _flying?"_

The holo narrowed his eyes at the Ranger, moving to cross his arms stubbornly. "I'm not _scared_ I simply-" The plane jolted and the holo's hands shot out to grip the armrests of his chair, nails leaving half-moon marks. "-do not _like_ it."

"Why?"

"If I was meant to fly, Primus would have gifted me with wings." He hissed between clenched teeth, wincing when the plane jolted again. Epps opened his mouth to ask again, only to freeze at the look Sam was shooting him. He snapped his mouth shut and backed away, sitting down again and shrinking back into his seat as Sam's glare only intensified. The human snapped out of it when the plane gave another jarring jolt and grabbed Orion's hand, twisting their fingers so his thumb smoothed soothing circles on the back of his hand.

Their hands stayed linked until the plane touched down at Diego Garcia and Orion's holo vanished, after pulling Sam into a kiss that left him staring for a few moments after.

He made his way off the landing strip, only to be tackled after walking through the door.

" _Thankyout _hankyout _hankyout _hankyou-"____ Sideswipe buried his head in the human's neck, arms tight around him. Sam blinked, befuddled as he hesitantly hugged the mech back, shooting a confused look over the top of the blonde head at the other holos and humans staring back at him. To his increasing surprise, they continued to just look at him, though Elita was smiling at him brilliantly.

"Sides? What...?" _ _ _  
___

" _You brought them back to me."_

The holo untangled himself from him, giving Sam such a _smile_ that the human was honestly stunned for a moment. _Now_ he could see the prankster that the other mechs had told him about. He blinked at him again, turning to look up at Orion as the holo placed a hand on his shoulder.

"What is he talking about?"

"I have no... _Sunstreaker? Bulestreak?"_

A man who looked almost identical to Sideswipe-besides also having so many tattoos it would make a holy woman bless herself-wrapped an arm around his waist, auburn hair styled into small spikes. On Sideswipe's left, a man who was the same age as the two, but seemed to have a energy of someone much younger, wormed his way under Sideswipe's other arm. He bounced in the spot, electric blue hair flopping into his eyes has he smiled at Sam.

"See, see Sides! That's him! That's the guy! You didn't tell me he was _Orion's_! How did that happened anyway, what happened to your whole 'won't be distracted' mindset? Well, i'm happy you got rid of _that_ , that sucked BossBot! And everyone was really worried, but it's okay now cause Ratch says you're _smiling_ and stuff now, which is awesome and-!"

" _Blue"_

 _"_ Sorry."

Sam shook his head, smiling at the holo. "While it's really, really great to meet Sideswipe's mates, I'm afraid you've got that wrong guy-"

"No they haven't."

The Prime swore under his breath as Sam's legs gave out beneath him. The symbols swirling against his skin glowed, matching solid blue eyes. He straightened himself up, pausing to throw a fond smile at Orion.

"Thank-you, Hunter."

The holo dipped his head, ignoring the gasps from those who hadn't seen the process before. "At your disposal, my lady."

She smiled at him, smiling when her eyes fell on the trio in front of her. "It did work then. Very good."

She stilled, rolling her eyes in a very familiar gesture. "Yes, Sam, you did do this.

Yes you did.

Yes, you did.

 _Yes you-_ Oh for the Guardians' sake, must you argue?!

Yes, it did! You don't remember as I had to wipe your memory!

Only a few times!

...No, it _shouldn't_ cause any side effects..."

Orion made a a soft noise of protest, which the All Spark waved away with a regal and again, familiar gesture. "Do not worry, Hunter. This was the safer option, the other would most likely leave him dead."

Orion wasn't the only one who made a strangled noise, which was waved off again. "Look Samuel, you did this! We were arguing about how you felt like you didn't deserve to be my Guardian and spewing nonsense about being 'twisted and taintined'-"

Orion took a step forward, as if to arguing this claim, only for the Allspark to steamroll over him "-which, as I said, is nonsense- _we are not dicussing this again, Samuel!-_ And _you_ asked if there was anyway I could get a message to two mechs, as their mate was dying. All down to you, Samuel, and I really must go as you are already starting to burn up."

As the last word left her mouth, Sam's knees buckled again, only saved by Orion's lightning reflexes. The holo gently lowered him to sit on the ground as he groaned, clutching his head and throwing out a splutter of Latin swears under his breath. Orion kept an arm around his back as he lightly brushed his copper hair back, whispering softly to him. After a few minutes, the pale and slightly shaking human pulled himself up, swaying gently and steadying himself by holding onto Orion's arm.

"Damn, was hoping that was going to get easier."

"When is your life ever easy?" Miles snorted, shaking his head. Sam shook his head, letting out a soft laugh as he did so, leaning into Orion's side when dark spots bloomed across his eyes.

"Bed."

"Docbot-"

" _BED"_

The human sighed but nodded and let Orion gently guide him to the door, muttering under his breath about feeling like he had just finished training with Miles, only to be stopped by Sunstreaker's hand on his arm. Turning to him, Sam's eyes widened when the holo clenched a fist over his spark and dipped his head in respect. "I am indebted to you, Samuel Witwicky, Chosen of my Prime. My blade is yours, for when you call it."

Not knowing where the words came from, Sam dipped his head in response. "I accept your loyalty, Warrior, and respect your blade."

The auburn headed holo smirked and nodded, slipping back into place and ignoring the looks of the other holos. Just before Sam left, he turned and called over is shoulder, "And it's Sam to family and friends, Sunstreaker."

The holo nodded again, respect brightening his eyes.

* * *

Sam tossed and turned, brow furrowed in his sleep. He startled awake, staring around himself in a daze. Blinking sleep from his eyes, he forced his heart rate down, scrubbing his hand across his face.

"D-Darlin'?" Orion cracked his eyes open, running a hand across the small of Sam's back. "What's wrong?"

He turned around, smiling down at him. "Nothing, Sweetheart. Just...just a weird dream." He shook his head and lay down again, burrowing into Orion's safe embrace and letting the already-asleep holo's slow breathing drag him into an unfortunately uneasy sleep.

_"Kaela...I think I'm going insane."_

_"Darlin'... **run** "  
 **"** Orion...oh gods no no no Sweetheart stay with me. Sweetheart, **please!"**_

_"Oh, my baby boy...look at you all grown up"  
_

_"This is, and always has been, your destiny."_

_"Ratchet? Ratchet...They won't wake up. They won't wake up Ratchet and I don't know what to do and oh gods please Sweetheart, please Baby please wake up"_

_"Kid...Kid, what are you doing?"  
"They don't let people go, Will. They just allow..exchanges."_

_"Kneel."_

_"Arial?"_  
"Orion...Orion, Sweetspark, I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry."  
"...No. Oh Primus no. Oh Darlin', what did you **do**?"


	41. Dog Days Are Over: End Of All Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So much for peace. The War has begun once more, the Elites are as furious as ever, and the past has already started to repeat itself. Our humans and aliens are just trying to keep each other safe, but can you really change what has already happened for thousands of lives? Time has already began to run out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second Part in the At War For Peace Series

The noise was getting louder.

Orion sat up slowly, twisting to look over at the shut door of the bedroom. Quickfire stirred in annoyance, still exhausted from the nightmare that had sent her running into Orion's arms with a sob, and the hours she had sat up crying for her daddy.

The scratching persisted, followed by a high-pitched whimper.

Carefully, the Prime slipped out of the bed and crossed the room warily, opening the door slowly and sighing when he saw what was on the other side. He knelt down, smiling softly with tired eyes.  
"Hey boy," He murmured to Storm, scratching the golden lab behind his ear, "Haven't seen you in a while."  
The dog whimpered again, pressing his nose into the inside of Orion's wrist and whined when there was no trace of lemon to balance out the strawberry. He twisted past the holo, sniffing the blue shirt folded neatly on the chair beside the wardrobe and whimpering when the shirt carried no trace of his owner. Orion exhaled forcibly through his nose and slipped back into bed, dropping his hand down to pet Storm soothingly when he curled up at the side of the bed.

"I know, boy. I miss him too."

* * *

Rain lightly misted against the Californian dorm room's window, unseen due to the inky darkness of outside. A sudden cold breeze snaked through the open window, making the student checking his work shiver and tip his chair back to close it. Leaning over, he flipped the switch which made the smaller lamps perched on desks and the tops of wardrobes turn on at once-their ceiling lighting was horrific- bathing the room in soft yellow light. He stretched, cracking his elbows and fingers as he did so before going back to his work.

Mere minutes later, the door flew open and hit his roommate's bed so hard in slammed shut in his face, prompting a snort from the man by the window. The man outside let out a muffled curse before opening the door slightly easier, then practically flew across the room.

"Come on, man! Go get changed!"  
"I told you I wasn't going, Leo"

"Come on, man! Hot chikas and bros!" Leo tried to persuade his roommate, bouncing excitedly and running his fingers through his curly hair. The red-head looked up from his laptop, eyebrows practically at his hairline. He propped one elbow on the table and dropped his chin into his palm, the bold designs of red, blue and green which twisted up his arms automatically catching Leo's eye.

Sam's mouth twisted up at the side even as he shook his head. "Man, I've got way too much-"  
"Dude, you're a fucking TA and you've completed practically _everything_ in our course! You could graduate next month _despite it only being November_. I'm sure you're fine."  
"Leo-"  
"Come on, man! You've been here two months-"  
"-I've been here from June."  
"...That doesn't count; you were studying with the professor all summer to feed you're freaky genius IQ and do a four year course in like half a year. There wasn't people around! It's been two months and you have _never_ even looked at anyone! You've got that whole 'smart badass with a motorbike' thing for the chicks and that 'Delicate bambi-eyed twinky' shit for the dudes-"  
" _Delicate bambi-eyed twinky?!"_  
Leo rolled on, ignoring Sam's incredulous yelp, "and turned down _all_ of them! Dude, there was guys _I'd_ bend over for!"  
_"_ Whoa man, I did not need that mental image-"  
"And yet every time you just 'Sorry, not interested, I'm in a relationship'! _Come on_ , man! You're in collage! You're meant to do the whole drink, drugs, and sex thing!"  
Sam tipped his head back and laughed, the yellow glow of the lamps illuminating the pale scars on his neck. "Man, been there, done that. I am never touching that stuff again, and as for sex?" He exhaled a laugh, lips curling up into a knowing smile as he bit down on his bottom lip and slowly released it, leaving it full and red, "Man, I'm just gonna end up disappointed, compared to what I'm used to."

Leo made a face, batting at the air between the two as if to push away the conversation. "Ew dude, TMI. Anyway, come _on_ " He dragged out the word into a whine, until Sam threw his hands up with a huff.

"Alright Alright! _Ares_ give me strength."

His fingers darted across the keyboard before he clicked the laptop shut. He rose rapidly, grabbing a handful of clothes and disappeared into the bathroom, before reappearing in jeans and a black button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, displaying the delicate designs crawling up his arms. Before leaving, he knelt down before the small alter wedged between his bed and the window and whispered a soft prayer, before extinguishing the two candles that stood there with his finger and thumb. Stepping around the dumbstruck Leo (who was staring incredulously at Sam, who _never_ changed his mind), he opened the door and raised an eyebrow at Leo. "C'mon then, let's go check out this rave."

* * *

_"I can't just_ _**leave** _ _!" Sam turned back to the sink and went to ball up the acceptance letter, only for Orion to dart flush with his back and pluck it out of hands._

_"Darlin', you_ _**have** _ _to go! This...this is an_ _**amazing** _ _opportunity!" Orion scanned the letter again, co-signed by the president. "You'd only be gone for six months, and if you have to cut it short for some emergency-" Sam knocked the chopping board twice, waving away the mystified look he knew was on Orion's face without turning around, "-you can finish you last month here. And it would mean..." he trailed off, before softening his voice and placing a hand on Sam's shoulder, "It would mean you wouldn't be here when Galloway is."_

_Sam first tensed under the hand, then twisted to curl into Orion's chest and lock his arms around him, relaxing slightly when the holo immediately wrapped his arms around him and rested his cheek on the top of his head, eyes like flint._

_Too many times had he woke to Sam begging Galloway to stop and listen to him, and too many times over the last few days did Sam's momentarily terrified face flash before his eyes when they were told who would be their liaison for the next six months._

_"But the Rebels-"he protested into Orion's chest, voice muffled even as he deflated slightly._

_"-Miles is more than capable of taking control for a few months."_

_"Soundwave-"_

_"Mass forces won't reach Earth until next year at the very earliest...we're talking about ten cons in the next few months at the very most."_

_"Quickfire."_

_Orion sighed, tightening his hold on Sam for a moment. "You can still read her a story every night, and you'll be able to come home for a few days every month. I know it'll be hard Darlin'...but you have to do this. You deserve to have at least a few months of being a normal college student, after everything you've done."_

_"Orion-"_

_"Don't dare argue with me on that, I have the backing of half a race, a few dozen humans and a life-giving power."_

_Sam pulled back slightly, biting on his bottom lip. "And if I go...will..." he wouldn't meet Orion's eyes, and when the mech gently tilted his chin up, his spark_ _**ached** _ _at the vulnerability in his eyes. "Will you still be here for me?"_

_He was going to hunt down every single person who had ever turned away from his Promised and make them regret ever putting that lost look in his eyes._

_Gently, he leant down and kissed the human slowly and softly-nothing more than to provide reassurance and show his love.  
"I have waited thousands of vorns for you, Darlin'. A few months will be naught but sparkling's play."_

* * *

"You were always so nice, Sam!" Stacey slurred, propping herself up by leaning against him. "Kaela talked about you all the time!"  
"Uh huh." Sam choked down a laugh, patting her on the head. "Stacey, I think you've had enough tonight. Maybe you should head home?"

"YEAH I SHOULD TOTALLY DO THAT!" The girl squealed, swishing her neon purple hair around in excitement.

Shaking his head, Sam motioned one of the girls Stacey had arrived with over, frowning when the girl simply told him to take her home himself and shut the lights off when he left. After debating for a few seconds, the red-head pulled the stumbling girl's arm over his shoulder and shook his head.  
"Nah, I was at school with her and I can't just leave her. I'll let her stay in my room tonight, rather than her be by herself."  
The girl shrugged, turning away with a careless "Whatever", completely missing Sam's outraged look that she would let her 'friend' vanish with a random guy who she'd never met before, when Stacey was clearly in no shape to be by herself.  
Muttering under his breath, he grabbed Leo by the arm, making the curly haired student jolt and narrowly avoid throwing the drink at him.  
"Man, I'm taking Stacey to ours to sleep this off...try not to stumble in at three AM singing Christmas carols again."  
"Duuuuude!" The tips of Leo's ear burned, "That was one time!"  
"I LOVE CHRISTMAS CAROLS!"

Carefully, Sam led her outside, shrugging his jacket off and giving it to her when she started to shiver. They had only got a couple of feet outside the club when someone called his name, causing him to huff under his breath and turn with a forced calm expression.  
"Yes?"  
The student that called him rocked back on his heels, grinning at Sam from under a blond fringe. He carefully licked his lips, dragging his eyes up and down the teen's wiry body. "Hey, I'm Steven. I'm in your Astrophysics and Gov classes. I was wondering if maybe you could tutor me in some things? Maybe we could go-"  
At that moment Stacey moaned and Sam just had enough time to get her over to the gutter and crouch down before she threw up, shivering. He murmured soothingly to her, holding her hair back and rubbing her back until she groaned and leant against him, snuggling into his warmth.  
"So can we?"  
"What?" Sam glanced back at him, shaking his head and rubbing Stacey's arm when she started throwing up again. "Yeah, sure, whatever man." He muttered distractedly, attention on the girl in his arms. "Look man, I'm kinda busy, I'll talk to you tomorrow."  
He gently lifted Stacey up and helped guide her onto his back in a piggy-back, where she locked her arms and legs around him and buried her face in his neck with a tired sob. He murmured softly to her, distractedly throwing a hand up at Steven as he darted across the road and made his way to his dorm.

As Steven watched him go, he ran his tongue over his teeth and smirked, "Well...Prime seems to have chosen someone with as big a bleeding spark as his own."  
He blinked slowly, brown irises melting into blood red.

* * *

Stacey jerked up and practically threw herself over the side of the bed, retching into the dish left there. Sam winced sympathetically from his desk, smiling softly at Stacey when she met his eyes.

"Sam? What...what time is it?"  
"It's about four AM, Stacey."  
She blinked, purple hair sticking in all directions. "Why am I here?"  
"I didn't want to risk you chocking in the middle of the night, and there was no-one else to look after you."  
She blinked at him, swallowing some of the water he had left for her. "...Thanks."  
"Don't worry about it." He cut her argument off with a wave of his hand. "Seriously, Stacey. Get some sleep."  
She nodded slowly, and then curled up again, facing the wall with a sleepy sigh. Sam shook his head, jerking when his PADD gave a soft chime.

He shot up, grabbing it and ducking into Leo's 'office', locking the door behind him. He accepted the call, sighing in relief when Orion's tired, but mostly uninjured holo smiled back at him.  
"Hey Darlin'"  
"Hey. How was Beijing?"  
"Alright." Orion scuffed a hand over his face, grimacing when his hand pulled on a few cuts. "Got everything contained pretty quickly."  
"...What else happened?" Sam didn't miss the tension in Orion's shoulders nor the heaviness in his eyes. The mech blinked tiredly back at him, exhaling through his exhaustion.  
"I'll tell you tomorrow."  
"Okay, I'll see you- _tomorrow?_ What do you mean, tomorrow?"  
Orion looked back at him, before dropping his head into his hands and shaking his head. Panic twisted Sam stomach, even as he forced himself to stay calm  
"Orion, what happened? Orion? Sweetheart, you're scaring me here."  
"I know, I'm-I'm sorry." The holo ran his fingers through his hair, taking a calming breath before he looked up at Sam again, clasping his hands together tightly.  
"We had a break-in last night."  
" _What?!_ " Sam snapped upright, hands shaking, "Who was it?! Is everyone okay?! What-"  
"Sam! Darlin, not here. The break-in wasn't here."  
"Gods, Orion! Don't scare me like-Wait...where was broken into?"  
Orion looked back at him for a long moment before swallowing. "The safe."  
"The safe? What safe-"

* * *

" _Will, what are they going to do with the Shard?"_  
" _It's being hidden in one of the safest naval bases in the world, under an electromagnetic field which should keep any of_ _ **them**_ _from getting to it"_  
"How are they going to hide that?"  
"I'm not sure, something about filing it in the paperwork as being in a 'safe' of some sort?"

* * *

"Oh gods."  
"Yeah." Orion scrubbed a hand over his face, sighing in exhaustion. "We're going to collect you about two o'clock tomorrow-"  
"Orion, I can just get a plane-"  
" ** _NO!_** "  
Sam jumped, taken back by the outrage in Orion's voice. The holo swore, dragging his shaking fingers through his hair again. "Sorry Darlin', I didn't...it's too dangerous. You'd be far too out in the open and..."  
"Hey, Orion." Sam smiled softly at him, waiting until he slumped back before continuing, "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"  
The holo looked back at him, relief clear in his eyes as he nodded. Sam smiled again, waiting until Orion managed to smile back before he reached out to touch the screen. Automatically Orion copied, pressing their fingertips together.  
"I love you, and everything's going to be okay. It'll work out."  
Orion smiled again, huffing out a soft laugh. "Love you too, Darlin', and-" his eyes snapped to somewhere behind Sam's head and he snapped up, face smoothing out.  
"- _Director Galloway!"_  
Both screens vanished as Orion slammed the laptop shut and Sam flipped the cover over the PADD.

The smile dropped, and he took a shaking breath to try and calm the terror that was rising in his throat. He stared at the covered PADD for a few moments, then took an unsteady breath and set the PADD to the side and quickly rose. He avoided the tables in the 'office' as if he was in a daze, unlocking the door and ghosting over to the wardrobe. Robotically, he pulled it open, grabbed the suitcase from the top shelf and began packing.

* * *

Sam softly shut the door behind Stacey, having waved her embarrassed apologies aside with a smile. Leo slapped his shoulder as he got up from his desk, muttering something about 'girls being wasted' on him.

The student brushed it off with a laugh, picking some books off the table and sliding them into the almost-full suitcase, which had been explained by a blunt 'family emergency'.  
Sam's tight smile had silenced any questions.

Still laughing, he pulled a brown zip-up out of the wardrobe, and almost had it in his bag before he registered what it was. The laugh died in his throat as he turned it over in his hands, fingers lightly grazing the material.

Leo snorted from behind him, shaking his head as he stumbled into the bathroom. "Dude, don't even donate that-That thing deserves to be burned!"  
"Hey!" Sam shouted back, turning the jacket in question over in his hands absentmindedly, "I bled in this thing!" He dropped his voice, still gazing at the jacket in confusion, "I haven't seen this thing since...I don't even remember packing it-"

Out of the sleeve, something small slipped.

He had just enough time to recognise the silver sheen and symbols scrawled across the side, just enough time to know he _had to catch it_ , and just enough time to reach out-

The moment the splinter touched his skin, agony exploded in his fingers and blazed up his arm, ravaging through his body in a heartbeat. He bit down on his other wrist to stop his screams from slipping out as the white-hot splinter which burned blue melted into his palm. The symbols hidden by his new tattoos blazed to life, matching the colour of his burning irises.

Barely a few seconds had past, when the images slammed into him. Worlds and wars and energon and blood and fire and ice and a thousand things in-between swirled into a sickening blur of agony. The sound hit next: Voices who screamed and pleaded and roared, crashes and clashes and cracking of flames which swirled into deafening _noise_.

He gripped his hair with his burning hand, ignoring the taste of copper in his mouth as he trembled, frozen in one spot. The pain skyrocketed to a point where he could not scream even if he wanted to when, suddenly, it vanished.  
He crumpled, curling up and trembling as the aftershocks slammed into place, razing through him from head to toe.

He stayed like that, curled up like a child until the pain blissfully ebbed and the pressure of someone's hand on his shoulder grew. The noise that had sounded like a badly tuned radio eventually focused enough to become a calming male voice.  
"-there we go, Sam. Take another breath for me. That's it, you're doing great man. One more breath...there you go..."

Still trembling, he allowed himself to be guided into a sitting position, back against the blessedly cool mirror of the wardrobe. He stared blankly, barely noticing that the other teen had left, only to reappear with a first aid box. Like Sam was a spooked animal, Leo slowly pulled the bleeding wrist away from where it was tucked against the chest and gently dashed some antiseptic on it, frowning to himself when Sam didn't so much as flinch at the sting of alcohol.  
"You okay, bro?" He made certain to keep his voice low and even as he wrapped the bandage around the wrist.  
"Panic attack" the red-head gasped out, forcing his breath back under control and ignoring the warmth blossoming at the back of his head, "Fine now, just need to wash my mouth out."

"Okay, man." Leo backed off slowly, letting Sam stumble to his feet and into the bathroom.

He gripped the sink for support, spitting into it and grimacing at the splatter of scarlet. With shaking hands he yanked the mouthwash off the shelf and ended up using half a bottle, not pausing until all he could taste was spearmint, and desperately pushing back at the heat which was increasing in his cheat. He gazed down at the sink for a moment before slowly lifting his hand to stare at the mark on it. It no longer was an angry weeping wound. Now, it looked like someone had drawn the sliver in henna on his palm-a thin black outline with the symbols that decorated it seemingly painstakingly painted on. He poked it carefully; surprised at how unsurprised he was when there was no pain.

He took a slow breath then lifted his head to look into the mirror. He took one more steadying breath and _pulled_ at the heat in his head and chest and held it for a breath, and then pushed it away once more with an exhale.

His eyes flashed blue in sync.


	42. It Was Like A Time Bomb Set Into Motion

"Man, I really don't think you should be here..." Leo whispered, eyes flicking from the blackboard to Sam, who was taking notes with one hand and discreetly massaging his temples with his other.  
"I'm fine, Leo" He hissed, closing his eyes for a second as the ache between his eyes grew, like the ache you get when you wear someone else's too-strong glasses. He slumped in a manner that would have had Simmons slap him across the back of his head and bark, _'_ _ **Posture**_ _,_ Witwicky! You have the blood of kings and saviours, and neither slouched!'  
He glanced up at the blackboard, freezing when one of the 'Σ' symbols on the board morphed into a glyph-

" _LeaderPrimeKingMessiahSaviourRuler"_ the voices whispered, and images of purple and red and blue and gold flashed through his mind like a brilliant firework. He blinked, and the glyph was gone, along with the voices.

Shaking his head, he looked over at Leo to whisper something, only to frown at the sight the other student looking down at Sam's page with wide, confused eyes. Swallowing, he dropped his eyes, heart clenching when he saw his hand race across his page at frantic pace, symbols streaming from the pen nib in a river of ink. His hand had a mind of its own, speeding up to layer symbols over symbols, despite Sam's attempts to still it.  
The burn between in his eyes grew, billowing so fast he had to shut his eyes against the agony, even as the noise that had faded from the earlier morning started to build. He flinched when he felt Leo grab his arm, and in fury had to blink away the sheen of tears that had built against his will as the voices started to scream.  
 _"Letmeoutletmeout_  
ohprimusnononon  
stopstopstop  
I'msorryI'msorry  
I'msososorry"

* * *

Professor Robinson shook his head as he stared down at Witwicky, worry pinching the corner of his eyes. The student looked like death warmed over, flinching from the sound of Spitz slamming their books shut and throwing them into a bag. He put his hand on Witwicky's shoulder and bent down slightly to put himself at eye level with him.

"Witwicky, Spitz is going to take you back to your room and get the nurse, okay?"  
Witwicky shook his head, wincing as the movement caused the pain from what had to be a migraine flared.  
"I'm, fine, sir. Just let me-"  
"No, Witwicky. Sleep it off, go home and you'll get caught up in a week or two. You're ahead of schedule; a week with your family won't kill you."  
Though he did not look at all appeased with the arrangement, nether the less, he let Spitz steady him as he got up and guide him out of the classroom, leaning heavily on the other student.

* * *

Mikaela's nails were almost stumps, her knee jittering up and down as buildings flew past her window. She startled when she felt Miles grab her hand, bringing it down from her mouth and giving it a quick squeeze while he pulled a sharp U-turn which she was pretty damn sure was illegal. He had barely spoken from this morning, from the moment when Orion had stormed out of a meeting and threw a pair of keys at him, trembling with rage and biting through his teeth, " _Get to him."_

The Bots and Rangers were not allowed to leave base until the situation had been cleared up, until the fat cats felt safe in there pretty bunkers and were sure that they weren't going to run off and join the other side.

By the time that had happened, Sam's collage would have been nothing but a hole in the ground and her brother wouldn't have stood a chance.

* * *

Orion tightened his fingers on his steering wheel and shut his eyes, processor flashing back to the moment he thought the bond which was closed for good had surged back to life.

Arial had stumbled into him, letting out a choked sob that matched his own.

Half joyful, half devastated as the imprint they thought had been put to rest had awoken to haunt them once more.

It was moments like that where he envied the others. Dijon had roared out a curse and hurled his coffee mug at the wall. Jazz's fist had punched a hole in the plaster and Barricade had kicked the coffee table so hard it flipped, glass top shattering and spilling across the floor like broken diamonds.

He wished he could hate the fact Megatron was alive. He wished he could rage and storm and let his fury burn through him as he cursed the mech.

But, Primus help him, the youngling inside him was all but weeping with joy that his brother was alive.

"Orion?" Mikaela's voice drifted through the commlink connecting the Bots and startled the Prime out of his daze, "Sam's calling me."  
"Put him on."

He heard her make a noise of confirmation, and a click echoed through the link to confirm the phone had been connected to the commlink, allowing the Bots to also hear what was being said.

"Hey Sammy, we're coming to get you now. Me and Miles will meet you then meet up with-"  
"I take it this is Mikaela, Sam's sister?"

Orion's head snapped to the radio as a male voice answered, a voice that defiantly wasn't Sam.

"…Who is this? Why do you have my brother's phone?"  
"I'm Leo, his roommate? Sam asked me to ring you."

Dread uncurled in Orion's stomach, even as Mikaela spoke over the other student's rambles of it being Sam's idea with a sharp- "Why are you ringing me, and not my brother?"  
"See...Well, Mikaela, Sam…he's sick."  
"…Sick?"  
"Yeah, he had a panic attack this morning," Orion had to jerk himself into the correct lane, "And then he had a really bad migraine and now...Well...He's drawing like crazy and..." The student gave a high-pitched giggle, a touch of panic bleeding through,"Does your brother normally…you know…draw really freaky symbols over and over again?"

" _WHAT?!"_ Orion roared, cursing as he had to jerk back into the correct lane again, not looking away from the radio.

"Put him on." Mikaela's voice was like ice. There was a rustling noise, a mumble of Sam's name, of Mikaela's name then-

"Kaela?"Orion slammed down the accelerator, knuckles whitening against the steering wheel as Sam's voice filtered through, broken and pained and _Primus he had to get there._

"Sammy, what happened?" She hid her worry well, Prime noted distractedly, as Mikaela's voice flowed like honey with only the slightest tremor.  
"I caught it Kaela, I had to catch it I _had to_. It was in my jacket-I don't even remember packing the jacket. Why would I pack the jacket, I haven't worn it since.-It was still _stained_ Kaela, it was covered in soot and energon and _I didn't pack it_." He was babbling, words tripping over themselves in a flurry to get out. "A piece, a piece must of broke off and it fell and I caught it and gods it _burned_ and now I'm going insane and the symbols are everywhere and I have to find the _LeadersPrimesKingsMessiahsSavioursRulers_ and I keep seeing it and hearing it and _they won't stop I can't make them stop-"_ he broke off with a sob, before pushing through it "Over and over and over again I can't not see it Kaela. Gods there was so much energon and they won't stop _screaming."_

He could hear his spark pulse in his ears as his fingers went numb. Sam was seeing the war. He was seeing it over and over and over and he had to swallow the bile that burned in his throat.

 _"They_ _were_ _so_ _ **young!**_ They didn't deserve this Kaela they didn't they _didn't_ and they just want peace Kaela and it's not _fair_ and then they keep screaming at me and screaming and begging but I don't know how to help them Kaela gods I don't know-!"  
"Sammy, Sammy honey, you need to breathe-"  
"-And then in class, Kaela, it just _hit_ me, you know? Energy does equal mass times the velocity of light squared in this dimension, but what about the other 17? Kaela, no-on even talks about the other 17. Clear example: Break down the elemental components of Energon, assume a constant decay rate and extrapolate for each of the fourteen galactic convergences it took the Sentinel Prime expedition to receive an echo on its signal, you wind up with a formula for inter-dimensional energy increase that mass and light alone can't possibly explain and _I think I'm going insane."_

 _"_ Prowl, I am going to have to ask you to break the law." Had anyone else been listening in, they would have though the Prime was joking with his light, airy tone. But the mechs who were along side of him shivered at the rage bleeding through. Prowl's sirens snapped on and Orion tore after him, praying to Primus that he would get there before the Allspark burned his Chosen from the inside out.

* * *

Leo pressed a damp cloth against the other student's forehead, wincing at the temperature. Sam perched at the edge of his bed, stared blankly in front of him, lips mouthing indecipherably and tracks of salt water etched on his face.

The other student crouched down in front of him, tapping his cheek. "Sam?"  
The student blinked slowly, his eyes focusing slightly on Leo's worried face. "Hey man, your brother and sister are going to be here in like five minutes, okay? Are you sure you don't want me to get the nurse-?"  
"No." It came out as a rasp, scratching like the sound someone makes after screaming for too long. "No, thank-you."  
"Okay man, I-" He sighed in relief when someone knocked on the door, frowning when Sam yanked him back, fingers whitening around his bicep. "Dude, it's just you sister and-"  
"No." He shook his head, face drained and fingers trembling. "Don't open the door"  
Leo shook his head, shaking his head as the light hit Sam's eyes and gave the impression they were glowing blue. "Dude, I'm just-"  
"Don't open the door, Leo. I can't- I'm too _weak._ " He spat the word as if it was venom, fingers shaking so much that when he went to grab something from behind his back; it slipped through them and clattered to the floor. He cursed and grabbed it, hands shaking so much the gold dagger sliced his palm open.  
"Shit! What the hell, Sam-?!" Leo cursed again when the door was knocked again, urgently and impatiently. Against his better judgement, he strode across the room-ignoring Sam's plea- and threw the door open.

The student at the other side of the door leaned against the doorframe, a slow smirk lazily sneaking across his face and a toy car under his arm.  
"Is Sam in? I'm Steven."  
"Sam's sick; sorry dude." Leo went to close the door, only to be thrown against the wall when the blonde pushed against the door so hard it flew open. He smashed into the cupboards where they kept their dry food, blinking groggily up at the blonde. Steven spat out a laugh and closed the door behind him, before setting down the car who transformed instantly into a tiny robot who blinked up at him.  
"Find the shard"  
The robot immediately began tearing the room apart, while Steven slid his hand into his waistband to pull out gleaming silver pistol-

Leo didn't even realise the dagger had been thrown; but he saw it sink into Steven's shoulder. He also saw it fly out again, and the copious amount of _blue_ pouring from his shoulder...

Steven let out a screech like static, eyes bleeding red, metal pushing out from the center of his forehead and pushing the skin away-

Leo's breaths came in short, panicked pants as the Terminator stared back at him before slowly turning to stare at Sam. The teen was propping himself up by leaning against his desk, his dagger dripping blue onto their floor and looking completely unsurprised at the freakin _robot_ standing in the center of the room and the one tearing through his cupboards.

"Ah. Prime's little toy." Honey and seduction poured from the Pretender as he took a few steps towards the human, cocking his head to the side. "Oh, look at you. Born in death and forged in battle. I've heard stories about you... about your combat and your..." his optics dropped to the bracelet on his wrist, thread and metal beads and clearly formed by a sparkling, "sentimentality."  
It was astonishing how much contempt the Pretender was able to put into a single word.  
"A perfect match for Prime."  
"Well, I like to think so."  
"My master is so eager to meet his brother's Chosen."  
"Sorry," Sam gave an apologetic smile and opened to box on the desk behind his back, "I do hate family reunions: I always seem to end up bleeding."

With a roar, the Pretender launched himself forward, screeching and whirling backwards and clawing at his face as the dust Sam threw into it burned away the protective plating. Sam ducked around him, hauling Leo to his feet and throwing the door open, only to be pulled back by his shirt and thrown against the wall. Leo stumbled into the crack between his bed and his wardrobe, watching Sam being lifted by a hand around his throat. He clawed at the metal fingers, toes scraping the floor as he did so.  
"I truly do wonder what you have to keep Prime interested...especially after his mess with Velocity...maybe I could have a taste..."  
The little robot tapped the Pretender's foot, flinching when he turned his crimson optics on him. "It's not here."  
"What."  
"I can't find it-"  
The robot made a choked noise as the Pretender kicked it, sending him smashing into the wall with a snarl of " _Pathetic disgrace."_

He was expecting his joke of a youngling to bow his head in shame.

What he was not expecting was for the human in his grasp to roar, eyes and tattoos flashing blue and for an impossibly strong electric surge to burst out of him and throw the Pretender against the wall. He shuttered his optics in surprise, launching himself at his youngling when it automatically started to crawl towards the glowing human.

He was thrown against the wall again in a flash of blue, and when he online his optics, he had to shutter them a few times at the sight of the blue shimmer that separated him from the humans and his youngling like a wall. Sam's palm was spread, fingers trembling when the Pretender threw itself at the wall and bounced back. The youngling gazed up at him with huge red optics as he clung to his leg, trembling like a leaf.

He attempted a smile, but knew it was failing as his vision started to darken and his legs grew weak. This wall of energy was draining him, leaching his strength out of his fingertips and forcing him to his knees. He gasped out a breath, and the wall flickered once, then twice, and then fell, leaving him shaking and suddenly freezing.

The Pretender laughed again, but it sounded like it was coming from underwater. He snarled something else, stalking towards the human who exhaustedly pushed his youngling behind him in a pathetic attempt to protect-

Pain exploded in his shoulder and he spun, barely having time to confirm that there were two humans standing there when the blonde male started firing his pistol. His face was set as he advanced on the Pretender who was being pushed back at the assault, barely having a second to straighten up when the blonde's clip ran out before it was reloaded and he was slammed back again. Energon splattered across the unflinching human's face as the other threw one of Prime's Chosen's arms across her shoulder and pulled him to his feet, his head lolling against her shoulder. The human cowering in the corner jumped at her snarl and did the same at his other side, flinching when his youngling scuttled up the other male's back and held on as they dragged him out the door.

Emergency warning's flashed in front of him as the blonde turned on his heel and sprinted after them.


	43. My Darling, Who Knew?

Will paced back and forth, running his hands through his hair and distractedly noticing that he really needed a trim. The base outside was a flurry of activity, soldiers and Rangers running around as if their tails set on fire. One ran past the Captain, dressed in cameo and skidding to a stop when Will barked at him.  
"Where do you think you're going, solider?"  
The solider snapped into a salute, eyes unflinching and stance strong. "To rendezvous with Autobots, sir!"  
"Really, solider?"  
"Sir yes sir."  
Will stared him down for a moment, knowing several other sets of eyes were watching him and sighed with a tired smile. "Don't get caught, solider."  
Shadow winked at him, Galloway's scream of _'All rebel Elites are to remain on base at all times until they can properly be assessed!'_ echoing in the air between them.  
When he had ran off to help prep, Will leaned back against the wall, running a hand over his face as Galloway's meeting turned over in his head.

* * *

_"But who are you to judge what's best for us?"  
The weedy, grey haired man sneered up at Optimus and Will had to bite the inside of his cheek against the urge to snap something at him. Optimus maintained his calm expression, his bi-pedal mode still showing hints of strain from the battle of Beijing.  
He was _ **supposed** _to be resting right now, but apparently this meeting simply couldn't wait until he got to goddamn recharge. The other Autobots attending, who had stayed in alt-mode, 'bristled' at the blatant disrespect the man spat at the Prime. Hell, it made the Captain's hackles rise and he had to force a steady breath before he spoke._

_"With all due respect, we've been fighting side by side in the field for two years, Sir. They are our friends and allies and their word can be trusted."_  
It's funny to think that two years ago, he wouldn't have caught the softening in Optimus's optics or the tiniest lift of his mouth plate. Friendship is funny like that- things you never would have seen when you first meet become things that you immediately notice are gone.  
"We've shed blood, sweat and precious metal together." Epps added, crossing his arms tightly and furrowing forehead. Silently, Jazz nudged the backs of his legs, softening the soldier's expression slightly.  
"Soldier, you're paid to shoot, not talk."  
"Don't tempt me." Epps muttered under his breath, tightening his lips but nodding when Optimus whispered "Easy."

 _Will tuned out the rest of Galloway's complaining, only for his focus to snap back when he started leaking_ _ **very damn important information.**_ _  
"-Electromagnetic vault-"  
Will's eyes snapped to Optimus's, both of them opening their mouths when-  
"Sir, it's not exactly safe to give out HP information over a wireless line."  
Galloway froze, then turned on his heel and all but stalked over to Miles. The blonde held his stance unflinchingly as the man got right up into his face and slowly smiled like a sadistic cheserie cat.  
"Blaze. It's been __**so**_ _long...but where is your partner?"_  
The room seemed to plunge into ice and those in it into statues. Miles continued to stare forward, unmoving until Galloway rocked back with a soft laugh. "Ah. I see. You two always were so loyal to each other...two little lost boys who grew up in blood and battle."  
He shook his head with another laugh and turned away, only to throw something over his shoulder which would make Miles's world shatter.  
"At least you are finally replying your debt to Lightning...the Gods only know how you sleep at night after knowing what you subjected him too."

 _"What."Miles took a step forward and for the first time since Mission City, Will saw pure, undiluted fear on his face. "What are you talking about?"  
"_ _ **Miles**_ _" Shadow caught his arm and pulled him close, hissing into his ear. "Don't rise; all he has are twisted truths and fictional falsehoods."_  
Miles shook him off, stepping closer to the liaison and demanding again, "What are you talking about?!"  
Galloway turned back with another twisted smile, eyes shockingly wide. "Surly, you had to know? That night you ran away and left you brother to rot?"  
"I nev-"  
"-He was in the middle of hotwiring a car out of HQ when he got a call...and he immediately jumped from the car and ran back inside...and then you came out minutes later and drove off all alone."  
"-He...he never." Shadow stepped forward, grasping Miles's arm as he swayed. Bumblebee inched forward on the ground below as Miles's face went whiter than a sheet. God, Will wanted to both sit the blonde down with something warm to drink, and fly to Philly and hug that damn kid and never let him go.  
Galloway only smirked again. "Of course not...Lightning always was too...loyal, for his own good." His eyes flicked up to Prime once more and spat the words at him, provoking him for some sort of a reaction. "You would have thought that message would have been beaten out of him by now."

_Like he said, friendship changes things. To an outside, to Galloway, Prime didn't react. He didn't do anything more than raise an optic ridge and keep his stare level.  
To Will, Orion was _ _**furious** _ _. His optics tightened, his servos gave the tiniest spasm and his jaw hardened. The hum of his spark kicked up just a notch, spiking up from annoyed to the hum which he was pretty sure meant the same as Dijon's when it made that sound  
_ __**'You touched my promised you wouldn't even blink before I'd-'**

_Galloway seemed to deflate at the lack of reaction, but riled himself up once more. The next words he said seemed to blow Will's eardrums out, causing a high ringing in his ears.  
"-leave, peacefully?"  
_ _ **Leave?!  
**_ _Just for a second, he imagined waking up with no Dijon lying beside him and no Freeze holding his arms out for a hug. For just a second, he imagined trying to get up every day with half his family torn away._  
"If that is your will, we will honour it."  
Bile rose in his throat as he gripped his arms behind his back, the sting of nails breaking skin grounding him from reacting harshly.

_Galloway nodded, before striding from the room with his head high and smugness radiating out like an aura. Optimus head his stance until the official had climbed back into his helicopter before he transformed violently enough to make Will flinch. Orion's holoform appear in a flicker of light and twisted on his heel, walking out of the hanger with veiled fury and slamming the door behind him with an echoing crash._

* * *

"Think he'll ever win her over?"

Will jerked out of the memory as Daniel bumped his shoulder and nodded over to Epps and Chromia. The blue haired solider was double checking the nearest jeep, playfully shouting over to the other solider, who cried out something about being 'stabbed in the back'. The captain could only laugh as he tucked his astrum pendant back under his shirt, shaking his head at the two's antics.  
"He already has, he just doesn't know it yet."  
"Captain!" Lennox snapped around, eyes hard as he took in the image of the panting solider. "We're ready, sir."  
"Alright." The captain cupped his hands around his mouth and called out "Wheels up!"  
The cry echoed across the base as he and Daniel sprinted towards the nearest helicopter.

* * *

Darkness.

He cannot see his hand in front of him; cannot taste nor smell. Sounds fly past him, snatches of a scream, of a promise, of a snarl and of a laugh. Voices hiss in his ear, mutters of _Guardians_ and _sacrifice_ and _cure_ and _until the stars stop turning, my love, and for an eternity after_.

He twists and turns as fear builds in his heart. Part of him recognises this darkness, and screams _oh gods not again_. He waits for what seems like an eternity, surrounded by cold and so alone.

Then, just as he thinks he is lost for good, the darkness shifts. Moulds. Forms one shape, then stretches and snaps into six. The six surround him, cradle him and whisper to him.

_"Wake up, little one. Wake up, our prophet. Time to begin again,"_

He pushes himself back as a forgotten memory cries _no_ and _not again_ and _please no more.  
_ The shapes soothe him, comfort him and lull him into pacification. They gently remind him of what is at stake and he sobs that they are _so tired_ and _done our duty_ and _no more._

 _"Your last stand"_ they whisper, pressing their plea against him " _This is your last stand, little prophet."_

He's trapped and alone, and part of him knows that he must do this, must see this to the end. He agrees, and the memories start slamming into him, one after another after another after another.

He's felt fear before.

He's watched the lights in his mother's eyes go out, seen his cousin choke blood from her mouth, ran for hours because the stranger beside him looked just a little like his uncle and been helpless to protect his family from running straight into the fray.

Nothing compares to this.

It's one kind of fear to watch a war and be unable to do anything about the horror flashing in front of your eyes.

It's another entirely to see the same war repeated over and over, in new worlds and new cities and different children dying each time. It's not the sort of fear that leads you short of breath-it's the kind that sneaks into your mind at midnight, locking your muscles in place, tying your throat and sealing your eyes and forcing you to be a prisoner in your own body as your senses turn against you.

He knows what is to come; they've danced this waltz before. Blood and death and pain are their constant companions.

He could turn away from it, of course. He could watch what is to come and say ' _Not this time_ '. That happened once, when his incarnation was named Rasul and Hunter's was Cocidius. They had been _so tired_ and had watched their progenies _scream_ for them while they could only watch. They never really managed to wash their blood from their hands after they had cradled them.  
When the Darkness came, they had tangled their hands together and swore _no no not again we are done you cannot have us._

Their world burned with everyone in it. They still have not forgiven themselves.

Through weary eyes, he kneels and nods, pledging himself to the cause once more. They engulf him, whisper praises and thanks, and draw a twisting symbol in the hollow of his throat in their ichor.

" _Wake up, little prophet. You have a lot of work to do."_

* * *

Sam's eyes shot open. Miles's blurry form crouched over him, hand raised to slap him awake, eyes on fire and roaring something at him with soundless lips. Sam blinked at him, hand darting out to stop his brother's arm and sitting up, only to lurch to the side as his stomach rebelled at the sudden movement.

"...Easy...s'okay... " Miles gently rubbing his back, snippets of Greek and Latin soothing the student until he reached blindly for his brother. Miles hauled him to his feet and dragged him over to an abandoned car with Mikaela in the front, desperately trying to hotwire it and trying to calm someone on the other end of her phone. Leo twisted in the back, roaring hysterically about aliens and robots and the Real Effing Deal while the tiny youngling beside him cowered in his seat. When Miles bundled him into the front beside Mikaela, she gave a chocked sob of relief and all but tackled him, lurching back when the Pretender landed on the bonnet. Miles had just managed to throw himself into the back when the Decepticon cocked his head and snarled at Sam, punching through the glass and reaching out to grab his shirt-

Mikaela slammed down the accelerator, the car heaving forward and throwing the Pretender onto the ground. He had only stood up when Mikaela slammed into him again pushing him against the lamppost and sending energon spraying out of his mouth in a splatter of cyan. The youngling in the back screamed, burying into Miles's side as he tried to block the sight. Just for luck, Mikaela drove over the remains a few more times, wincing at the squeal of metal on metal before speeding off and pushing her phone into Sam's shaking hands..  
He stared at it for a second, the world a messy blur until a snippet of a voice suddenly snapped it into focus like a rubber band pulled too tight. Sound exploded in his ears and his vision sharpened, and his heart lurched at the sound of Orion's voice begging for information.

"Orion?"  
" _Sam?! Oh thank Primus I thought-"  
_ "Orion, it's okay, I'm okay." __  
"I'm coming to get you. Right now, Darlin', I'm coming straight to get you."  
"Okay-"

The seatbelt cut into Sam's chest as Mikaela braked with a screech to avoid slamming into the helicopter that had dropped to ground-level. The phone flew out of Sam's hand, slamming into the dashboard and sending the back and battery flying out.  
They barely had slammed back against their seats when, like a knife sliding through butter, a spike cut straight into the roof of the car and the top turned into what looked like an upside-down grappling hook. Leo let out a shriek and they barely had time to react, before the car started to lift off the ground. Over the sound of Leo's intensive screaming, Miles swore in the back, fumbling with his belt.  
"OUT OUT OUT GET OUT"  
Gods only know where they would be taken too. Sam snapped his belt off, pulling at the handle uselessly.

"KAELA?!"  
"SORRY CHILDLOCK!"

The girl slammed the buttons on her door, grinning and pulling off her belt when she heard the tell-tale _click!_. Sam grabbed the door handle again and just had it open, when a SUV appeared out of nowhere and slammed into Mikaela's side. The car jerked up spun freely, and Sam slipped out of it completely.

For a split second, he was weightless.

Then his fingers hooked around the edge of the bottom of the car door and clung like limpets, leaving him dangling at least twenty foot above the nearest building.

Mikaela screamed from where she was at and Miles launched himself into the front, bellowing at Kaela to grab his leg. He slid across the seat and hung down, the upper half of his body dipping towards Sam. He reached out, and only just managed to grab his brother's hand when the student slipped; forcing Mile's to take all his weight. With a pained roar, Miles slowly dragged the teen back into the car, Sam's foot catching in the door pocket and slamming it shut behind him.

The three of them sat like that in the front, clinging to each other and desperately trying to slow their hearts as they were carried right across the river and into the warehouse district. They moved slowly, until they hovered over a warehouse with a large glass roof for a few moments, just long enough for the trio to look at each other and whisper  
" _Fuck-"  
_ And the car dropped like a stone in water. It smashed through the ceiling, the floor rushing up to meet them and like a child, Sam closed his eyes and dragged up the best memory he had. Across the lids of his eyes, he watched the memory of sitting in Orion's palm with Quickfire on his knee as they watched the Fourth of July fireworks exploded over the Indian Ocean play out, because if this was the last thing he was going to see, it wasn't going to be some grey floor it was going to be his family-

The nose of the car crumpled as it smashed into the floor and the airbags exploded, pushing the humans back into the seats violently. The car tipped forward and fell onto its roof, rocking slightly as it did so. Mikaela pushed away the bags to touch Sam's face, almost crying in relief when his head lolled towards her and he smiled despite the blood dripping down his forehead from a stray piece of glass. She knew she has the same across her cheeks and arm, but adrenalin allowed her to ignore the pain. After twisting around, she did let out a small sob of relief as Miles reached out to touch her fingers and the sparkling that he had held tightly chirped at her. Leo made a weak noise of terror, so him possibly dying was off her conscious.

They sat there for a second, before with a sick screech, the car was sawn perfectly in half and Starscream sneered down them. Miles launched himself out of the remains of the car and pointed his gun directly between Starscream's eyes. Just before he pulled the trigger, blue completely overtook Sam's vision and static screamed in his ears. Proteus let out a roar in a strange language- _Alliantian, Sam's mind helpfully and vaguely hysterically supplied_ \- and leapt up, throwing the blonde's arm out of the way so his last shot went wide. Just as quickly as it he had taken over, Proteus vanished and left Sam staring at his hands like they were foreign objects. He jerked his head up to meet Miles's and his stomach twisted when he seen devastated realisation, rather than shock in his eyes.  
Mikaela shakily got out of the car, the sparkling on her hip and flinched at the sound of metal sliding over metal. She twisted around, only to stumble back as the face that haunted her nightmares loomed up from behind her.  
Sam and Miles launched themselves forward to stand in front of Mikaela, ignoring Leo's soft whimpers of denial and fear behind them as they stared up at the metal devil who grinned down at them

* * *

Megatron's ruby eyes roved over the humans, stopping to stare at the teen who had burned him into nothingness. He let his gaze linger, taking in the twisting Cybertronian hidden in the swirls of ink on his skin, and disgust crawling through him at the sight of the astrum that peeked through the gap in his button shirt that gaped due to ripped buttons.  
"Come here, boy." Hate and menace dripped from his words, and yet the boy slowly moved towards him, shaking off the other humans' hands and barking something at the blonde insect who longed to follow him. Once more, despite himself, a tiny spark of respect flared in him at the insect's strong, unshaken stance.  
"You remember me, don't you?" he all but purred as the human slowly slipped down the stairs towards him.

The warlord slowly reached out, only to turn and glare when the other black-haired male squeaked out something about 'hurting him would be major bad mojo, he's got these _huge_ solider friends-'  
The other two humans cried out over the top of him, shaking their heads and the one that reeked of Energon didn't have a chance to defend himself before Megatron swatted at him, sending him twisting through the air, deaf to the other's screams and cracking against the cold concrete desk, back-first.

The red-haired human groaned chokingly and tried to scramble up, only for Megatron to pin his arms and legs with a soft chuckle. "I'm going to kill you, slowly, painfully." He promised, talon tracing a slow path down his decorated arm. "But first, we have some delicate work to do. Doctor?"  
"Motherfucker." The insect breathed out as the needle gun beside him turned into a small, spiky Decepticon. He winced as he crawled up his chest, tiny talons pinching him. The 'doctor'-AKA, Scalpel-chattered to himself, and suddenly reared one arm back and sliced along the faded trail of a scar that stretched down the human's face, reopening an old wound.

The blonde above flinched like it was him who had been hurt.

After examining the human, Scalpel called for his probe, forcing it down the down the gagging human's throat. He twisted and choked, heaving in panic-but not from this. When the warlord looked into the insect's eyes, they were glazed, almost as if he was not seeing him, but rather another memory that had been forced down for far too long. Eventually the probe made its way back out, leaving the human gagging and coughing and desperately trying to get a breath to call reassuringly back to the terrified humans who could only watch, helpless. Scalpel attached the probe to himself and with an excited chatter, shone the human's memories on the wall.

The symbols were clear, and the faces flashed were... blurred, indistinguishable. The doctor shook his head, slapping at the probe a few times in annoyance, but it made no difference. There were vague Cybertronianoid shapes, but it was impossible to tell who the human had been looking at. The reoccurring image of a small, humanoid shape and a taller one, and a tall Cybertronianoid shape were blurred the most, as if the human had done his best to hide whoever he had been looking at. Megatron hissed silently in fury, as though the symbols were what he was truly after; he had been desperate to see which pathetic Autobot had lowered itself to be with a human.  
"These symbols," he bit out, taught with annoyance, "can lead us to the Energon source." He dropped his gaze to the human, and every gear stopped, his energon froze and his spark ceased to pulse.  
Because the human had pushed himself up and was staring at the probe on the doctor's chest with unwavering concentration, and his eyes were glowing blue, as was the symbols which had once been mere ink.

_Oh._

"We must have the brain on the table!"  
"No." Scalpel threw the probe away and the human collapsed back, exhausted and panting and peering up with half-lidded eyes. "No..." Megatron purred, grinning viciously at the human. "We have our own little source right here...it's only a matter of tapping into it."  
He dragged a talon down his frail chest, smirking as the human tried to squirm away-

The ceiling caved in around him and the wall crumbled inward as two Autobots burst into the warehouse. Megatron barely had a second to see the yellow- _Oh I remember you_ -Autobot distract Starscream and provide cover for the fleeing humans, before a servo wrapped around his throat and pulled him away from the human.

_Well, this is new._

He had seen Prime angry before, but this? Fury blazed in his optics as he attacked without remorse, taking on both himself and Starscream without backup. The Prime was like another being entirely, Pit, he was attacking in styles that Megatron had never even _seen_ before, as if there was multiple Imprints stealing his frame. For the first time in _megavorns_ , Prime was actually _attacking_ , rather than defending.  
And as much as Megatron hated to admit it, he was _winning_.  
He fought like a mech possessed, twisting and firing and slashing in such a rapid combination that Megatron found himself flying out of the warehouse in a blur of glass and metal and only just heard the name _"_ _ **SAM!"**_ crawl out of Prime's throat in a choked sound of panic before he was gone.

_...Oh._

_Now_ _**that's** _ _interesting._

* * *

"Please darlin', Primus, please open your eyes. C'mon darlin', don't do this to me. **_Please_** Sam! Darlin'-"

Sam snapped awake for what seemed like the hundredth time today, only this time he was immediately engulfed in warmth and apple and _home_ as someone pressed frantic kisses to his forehead.  
"Or-Orion?"  
"I'm here, I'm here darlin'. Primus, don't, don't you **_ever_** scare me like that again."  
Sam blinked around, eyes focusing on Orion's face, specifically the blue that was smeared across his cheek and rumpled shirt.  
"Oh gods, you're hurt."  
"Hey, darlin', look at me. I'm fine, it's only a flesh wound. I'm okay, we're okay." Orion cupped Sam's cheeks gently, pressing a soft kiss against his lips before manoeuvring Sam into the driver's seat and vanishing. The seatbelt wrapped around him like an embrace and Sam shifted back into the seat with a whimper of pain.  
"Others?"  
"They're fine." Orion promised, speed increasing as he approached the forest outside the city. "They're with Bee. We're going to rendezvous with them and you're going to go with Bee and get to a safe- _FRAG!_ "

Orion jerked as Megatron shot at him from behind, transforming around his precious cargo and cupping Sam in his hands protectively as Megatron tackled him. The Prime twisted, bringing his foot around to smash and momentarily daze Megatron and carefully deposit Sam onto the ground, and pulled a human pistol from subspace, dropping it into his human's hands.  
" _Hide!"_

Prime spun around and tackled his adversary, the two of them smashing against each other in a roar of metal and Energon. He skidded back onto his pedes and threw himself at the Decepticon once more, blocking his attacks and making sure his own caused as much damage as possible. Megatron, for a split-second, almost coward at the Prime's rage, before scrambling away with a cry of " _Decepticons!"_

Two Decepticons dropped from the sky and circled the Prime for a moment, before both attacking at once. Unlike them, however, he was not weighed down by the mass amounts of weaponry they had on them. The Prime was able to weave in-between the two, spinning and slashing at the two with his Energon Sword that glowed white-hot. The mech behind him pushed forward and was just about to get a clear shot, when two cracks snapped through the air and he let out a scream of pain, clawing at his optics.  
" _I can't see I can't-"_  
Optimus swung, and he stopped complaining. The Prime scanned the ground, and as much as he wanted to snarl at his Promised to hide, he smiled as Sam spun around from where he had shot the Con's optics out to start firing on the nearest Con, taking out his knees and then spark chamber with four shots. The human glanced up at him, then winked and spun around to start firing on the fourth con that wanted to try his hand. Orion flipped over his Promised and tackled the Con with a snarl, even as Ironhide and the Twins shot into range and let out warrior-like cries as the tackled the nearest Con. Just as Prime had dealt with his Con, he swore under his breath as Megatron's spark flared back onto his radar.  
"There is another source of Energon hidden on this planet...other than your human, of course. But he could still be...useful."

Megatron tackled him from the side, sending his flying through the air and crashing into the ground with a pained crash. With a groan, he stumbled to his pedes, only to be thrown through the air again with a well-placed shot from his once-brother ( _But not again, not after this, Primus, not after he had touched Sam.)  
_ His audio went haywire, before snapping back into focus at the sound of his name being torn from his Promised's lips. After spitting out a mouthful of Energon, he took a controlled breath and Ironhide and Sunstreaker called across his commlink, promising that if he could last " _A few clicks, Prime, just a few and we'll be there"_. In the corner of his optic, he could see three other Cons prowling around him, like wild animals just waiting to attack.

"Is the future of our race not worth a single human life?  
Fury and love and rage and _mine_ burned in his spark at the thought of simply handing over the being who had brought light back into his world, and his Energon _boiled_.  
"You'll never stop at one." He hissed, servo tightening around the hilt of his sword, "...and you'll take him over my. _Offlined._ _ **Shell!**_ "

Orion hurled himself to his pedes and let himself merge with the presence that had formed in the back of his processor. For the first time in eons, Hunter and his present incarnation merged as one, their only goal to protect their Sam-Proteus-Promised-Entwined. Their world became a blur of Energon and metal and snarls as they tore through the Cons, pride burning through them as they saw more than one Con fall at their Promised-Entwined's hand.

For a few shining moments, Promised and Prime and Incarnation and First worked as one. For a few breathtaking moments, Hunter and Proteus and Sam and Orion fought side-by-side.  
For a few eternal moments, two souls were once again moving in perfect harmony after years of searching.

Prime spun, sword raised to deal the final blow to Megatron when the mech dropped, and slowly, impossibly, raised violet optics.  
"Orion? B-Brother?"  
Orion jerked, freezing mid-swing. The mech in front of him remained kneeling, staring up with frozen optics, as if he was seeing a ghost. Agonisingly slowly, Orion lowered his arm, his own optics locked on his brother's.  
 _"Maximus?"_  
He took a step forward, as if he couldn't believe his optics as his brother stared down at his servos in shock. "I don't...I'm in control." He looked up at his younger brother, and the first honest smile in megavorns started to build in the corners. "I'm in control, brother. Orion, Orion I'm in-"  
" ** _Orion!"_**  
He swung around at the sound of Sam's scream, barely getting his arm up in time to block Starscream's blow. He swung at the mech, stepping back, as if to protect his Promised and brother.  
The brother whose servos were shaking uncontrollably. The mech shook his helm, clenching his servos in fists as the trembling danced up his arms. "No. No nononono please not again no."  
"Orion." The name slipped out of Sam's lips like a whisper as Maximus trembled, grabbing his helm with his servos before freezing for what felt like an endless moment, and standing up once more.

With bloody optics.

Megatron, in control once more, transformed his arm into his sword, and smirked. Starscream fell back; avoiding the Prime's swing and smirking over his shoulder at Megatron, who rotated his shoulder in preparation.

" ** _ORION!"_**

He didn't have a chance to move before Megatron caught him by the shoulder and slammed his blade through his back, destroying his spark chamber in one blow.

The world stopped.

For a single moment, everything halted. No sound, not a breath of wind, not a heartbeat. The only thing that existed was the almost-surprised expression on Orion's face, the blade that jutted from his chest and the shocking shade of blue that covered his chest.

Then, with a sick noise, Megatron pulled his blade out in one smooth slide. Orion stood for a moment, staring, before he sank to his knees and crumbled onto his side, optics flickering and intaking choked with Energon as he tried to breathe.

The only sound in Sam's ears was his heartbeat.

_Th-thump_

Megatron said something before he and Starscream ran like the cowards they are. Sam heard nothing, felt nothing. White noise screamed in his head as he took a shaking step and then the paralysis snapped and he sprinted forward with a horrible cry ripping from his chest.

_Th-thump_

"Orion? Orion oh...oh Gods. Oh gods." Trembling hands touched his Promised's cheekplates. "Okay...Okay you're okay."

_Th-thump_

"It's okay." He nodded as dulling optics focused on him, lips forming a whisper of a name. "It's okay, it's okay, I'm here. You're going to be okay, I'm going to make you okay."  
Blue flared from his fingertips and danced along the broken frame, before dissipating into nothing. Sam shook his head robotically, and flared again.

_Th-thump_

Nothing.

_Th-thump_

"Ally. Ally, Ally help me. Help me."

_Th-thump_

A soft hand appeared at his shoulder, and somewhere in the tiniest back of his mind, he knew he should feel it. "I can't."

_Th-thumpTh-thumpTh-thumpTh-thump_

"Jazz-"  
"-Jazz wasn't a Prime, and his frame was in perfect condition. His spark is different, and you can't heal metal."

_Th-_

"No."

_Th-thump_

The human shook his head, soothingly tracing over the fading mech's Prime symbol. "No, he's okay. You hear me, sweetheart? You're okay. You're going to be just fine. We're going to get you fixed up, and we're going to go home. And-and me, you and Quickfire are just going to take a full month off and travel. Go right around the world there's...there's so much you haven't seen yet. P-pyramids and a colosseum and so so much more."

_Th-thump_

There was so much Energon on his hands and arms.

_Th-thump_

He was babbling, shaking his head and promising wonderful things even as Orion's optics faded further.

_Th-thump_

_"_ You'll see. We're okay. Me and you, we're okay, sweetheart. Everything is okay."

_Th-thump_

"S-Sam"

_Th-thumpTh-thump_

"Shhh it's okay. I'm here, sweetheart. I'm here."

_Th-thump_

"So-sorry."

_Th-thumpTh-thumpTh-thump_

"Don't be silly, sweetheart. You're okay, everything is okay."

_Th-thump_

_"Dar-Darlin'."_

**_Th-thumpTh-thumpTh-thumpTh-_ **

"Yes, sweetheart?"

_Th-thump_

"L-love you."

**_Th-thumpTh-thumpTh-thumpTh-thumpTh-thump_ **

"I love you too. I love you too, sweetheart. Gods Orion, I love you so so much please. Please, just keep looking at me, okay? You, you need to stay awake sweetheart, because I love you so so much."

_Th-thump Th-thump_

"...Sam"

_Th-_

_"_ Orion?  
Orion, come on.  
Orion, please.  
Sweetheart?  
Please."

"-am?  
-Sam?"

The redhead slowly tore his eyes away from his Promised's optics to look up at his brother. The blonde's face was drawn in anguish as he stared at the fallen form of the being he had began to seen as an older brother. He dragged his eyes away to cup Sam's face very carefully, as if he was delicately spun glad that could shatter at any second.  
"He." His voice was odd. It was like he was standing at the end of a very long tunnel, and his voice was being mangled halfway through. "He needs Ratchet. I...I need you to go get Ratchet."  
"Sam." Mile very carefully tucked a strand of red behind his ear. "Sam, we need to go."  
"What? No...no we, we can't. Rat-Ratchet's not here yet." He shook his head, turning back to stare at his Promised. Miles slowly dragged his face back, now cupping his hands around Sam's eyes so he could only see him.  
"Sammy, we can't stay here. It's very dangerous, and Ori-" The name stuck and choked in Miles's throat for a moment before he let out a shuddering breath. "Orion wants you to come with us."  
"He does?" Sam tried to turn back, but Miles's careful hands stopped him.  
"Yeah, bro, he does. He really, really wants you to come with us, right now."  
"But-" he tried again to turn, and again was softly stopped. "But I- I can't go. I can't-I can't leave him alone, Miles." Something started to build in his throat, a twisted scream that was eventually going to claw its way out. "He-he can't be alone. I have to stay with him, he needs me here."  
"Orion really needs you to come with us."

In the distance, further down the tunnel, Sam can hear a girl screaming close to him. Miles turned sharply, letting go of the side of Sam's face which was away from Orion and grabbed her arm.

Mikaela.

Mikaela was sobbing.

Why

Why was Mikaela crying?  
Why was she looking at Orion and crying? He's fine. He's okay. Ratchet's going to fix him up and he's going to be okay.  
Mikaela ran back towards Bee, and Bee is making these horrible choking noises and what's going on is someone hurt?

Miles is mouthing something at him, but he breaks away, stumbling towards Orion, hands outstretched and he can hear himself call his Promised's name over and over and over and then Miles's hands clasp around his middle in what should have been a bear-hug.

The touch puts everything in razor-focus and oh gods why is he covered in Energon and Orion oh gods he covered in it and why isn't he answering him oh gods _nononononon  
"SAM! SAM, PLEASE!"  
_ _ **"ORION! ORION NONONONO WAKE UP! WAKE UP SWEETHEART PLEASEPLEASEPLASE"**_ He's clawing and kicking and biting and he can't go he can't leave him here alone.  
"MIKAELA WHERE THE HELL IS IT?!"  
" _LET GO OF ME I HAVE TO STAY HE HE NEEDS ME_ _ **ORION NO PLEASEPLEASE"  
**_ Something sharp pierces his neck and he struggles away, but whatever it is, it has already began working.  
"I'm sorry, Sammy." Miles is pushing him into a car and he's sobbing and rocking him back and forth. He can still see out the window, can see Orion and he's still sluggishly struggling and biting and clawing and begging.  
" ** _ORION! ORION, PLEASE! PLEASE! I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU ILOVEYOUILOVEYOUILOVEYOUILOVEYOU-"_**

He sobs into Miles's shoulder, begging like a child "Pleasepleasplease let me go to him please Miles I need to be with I can't I can't make it stop it hurts Miles"  
"I'm so sorry, Sammy. I am so fucking sorry."  
He knows what's to come. He's seen it before, Elites who lost their Promised. There's always two outcomes. Insanity, like Jason. And he can't, he _can't_ become him.  
And the second?  
It comes out a strangled whisper, a confession he whimpers into his brother's ear, the only thing grounding him as his world has crumpled into ash.  
"Kill me."  
"I can't. He'd never forgive me."  
There's a strange noise ringing in his ears, a screaming that sounds like an animal that's being tortured, dying and someone needs to put it out of its misery.

Gods, his throat hurts.

"Shhhs Sammy, it's okay. It's okay."

_'It's okay'_

"It's okay", Sam repeats. Darkness is already starting to close in on him.

_'It's only a flesh wound'_

"It's only a flesh wound" There's a gaping hole in his chest, like his heart has been scooped away and nothing has ever hurt like this

_'I'm okay'_

_"_ I'm okay."

_'We're okay'_

"We're okay." Nothing will ever be okay again.

The darkness swallows him, and he smiles and prays he'll see blue optics again.


	44. Hold On, Baby You're Losing It

The brown haired holo watched the young female femme kiss her bonded on the cheek as he left their dwelling, getting into his automobile and driving off. The femme smiled as she watched him leave, hand lightly resting on the tiny bump that held their human sparkling. He got out of his alt mode and walked up to the door, catching it before the femme closed it behind her. She spun, eyes going wide in shock.  
"Oh, I am so sorry, I didn't see you-"  
"Do you recognise this male?"  
He held up a picture and she squinted at it for a moment, then her face bleached like she had seen a ghost.

Confirmation.

He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her from the dwelling, ignoring her screams, and threw her to the ground in front of his alt.  
(The original owner of this form let out a strangled scream at treating a blessed Carrier as such, but he squashed it down as usual.)

The insect cowered there, begging but going silent when he let his holo fade and he transformed into bipedal mode.  
He must admit, the flash of recognition in her eyes did surprise him.  
Her terrified scream which ripped through the air when he scooped her up, did not.

* * *

"SAM!"  
"Insect"  
"I'm sorry"  
"Love you"  
" _ **ORION**_!"

The ground he lay on was cold and the jacket under his head wasn't his. Every cell of his body ached like they had been stretched for hours upon end, and his arms were stiff and sticky with a dried liquid he refused to name. Not far in front of him, he knew a small fire burned, and his dagger was slowly cutting into his leg.

A small, hysterical part of him wanted to laugh. A few years ago, he had used that same dagger to break himself out of the aching numb that would shroud him. Now, the only reason he knew it was digging into him was due to the slow trickle of blood that was weaving down his leg. No amount of pain would break him out of this fog. Other than the overall ache, he just felt...empty. Like half of him and been stolen in the middle of the night, like his senses had been snatched away and he had been thrown into an unfamiliar world.

"I can't talk right now." Mikaela whispered into the phone, her voice tired with past tears. "I can't talk, dad. Goodbye."  
"Your dad still wants you to go back to Tranquility?"  
Underneath the fog, guilt bubbled and festered like an infected wound. Bumblebee was hoarse and defeated and devastated and 'it's my fault _my fault_ _ **myfault'  
**_ "Yeah. It's been three months, and he still hasn't given it up. I mean, I love him but...I have a family now. I have kids."

_'Oh gods how was he going to tell Quickfire that Generator's not coming home?'_

A choked noise crawled out of his throat and suddenly Mikaela was running her hands up and down his arm and whispering to him, brushing his hair from his face and rocking him back and forth.  
He wanted to break and sob. He wanted to scream to the gods that looked down on them and demand they bring him _back_. He wanted to drink and drink until the image of him crashing to his knees was gone in a swirl of vodka. Jesus, he just wanted to close his eyes and never open them again, but he didn't even have the strength to do that. He was wrung out and cold and he had nothing left to give.

Like a puppet he let Mikaela sit him up and wrap her arms around him, rest his head on her shoulder and stroke his hair. He slowly started to scratch the dried blue off his arms as he stared into the fire, and silently allowed her to tell him beautiful lies like 'It's okay', 'Everything will be alright' and 'You'll be okay'.

_Gods, he hates that word_

* * *

Hours later, Miles slipped back into the courtyard with supplies tucked under his arm and fresh clothes in his backpack. He threw a few more pieces of scrap wood onto the fire, pausing to tightly smile down at the two mechling holoforms curled up in front of the fire like puppies. Even now, even though they were brothers only by choice, he could see traces of Bee in their sleeping positions with their knees tucked into their chests and arms hugging said knees. Skids and Mudflap were only the equivalent of five years behind himself, but it seemed like decades-the 'thirteen-year-olds' had been kept far behind Autobot lines and so had not yet gained the weariness in their optics and heaviness in their shoulders.

He shook his head as he made his way over to the blonde perched on the hood of the Camaro and staring at his little brothers with sightless eyes. After dropping the supplies on the ground, Miles placed his hands on his shoulders and drew the blonde into his embrace, who released a shuddering sob as he tucked his head into Miles's neck.

"How you doing, sunshine?"

Bee made a small, broken noise and shook his head. "Hurts. Primus Miles, it hurts."

The other blonde nodded, reaching up to run his fingers through his hair and exhaled shakily. "I know, Bee. I know."

Gods, it was agony for _him_ to see Orion fall. He could barely imagine what it must be like for his Chosen to have been unable to help, and Christ, he didn't even want to think how Sam was coping. He slowly rocked Bee from side to side, and let his Promised silently sob his regrets into his neck and feeling completely helpless in his inability to comfort him.

After a few minutes, a twig behind him snapped and he twisted and _oh Jesus Christ Sammy_. The broken shadow moved silently out of Mikaela's restraining arms and looked straight past his brother, unfeeling to the livid red scratches that sliced down his arm and bled slowly, eyes locked with Bee's. His lips trembled before he swallowed and shook his head, pulling in a gasping breath.

"Bee...Bee I'm, I'm sorry."

Bumblebee stiffened in Miles's arm before he made a choked noise, as if he had only just seen the redhead.  
"Oh, _Sam._ "  
He pulled himself out of his Chosen's embrace and slid off his bonnet, stumbling over to Sam and reaching out as if to embrace him. Sam flinched, his eyes going wide when Bee hugged him tightly, as if... As if he was expecting to be struck. Miles' stomach suddenly dropped as lead filled it and he already had a denial on his lips when Sam struggled out of Bumblebee's hold. In one swift motion, the redhead dropped to his knees and pushed his dagger into Bee's hold, pulling the blade flush with his own neck.

Bumblebee let out a strangled noise of denial and tried to pull his arm back, but Sam held firm, eyes devoid of anything other than guilt.

"Orion Pax" burst of agony exploded in the human's eyes before they were again buried under the choking guilt, "Orion Pax's falling was directly linked to my actions. As his brother, it is your right to seek retribution. But you must know" Sam shook his head, buried agony crawling to the surface and all but drowning him."...I didn't mean-Bee, I never meant for-"  
His voice cracked and his hand trembled enough to scrape the fragile skin of his neck, causing beads of crimson to appear.

Bee shook his head, tears springing to his eyes as he sank to his knees and placed his unoccupied hand on Sam's other cheek, his thumb gently wiping away the blood sluggishly weeping from the cut there. Miles and Mikaela shared a look, and silently slipped back to give the two mourners some privacy.

"Sam, this was not your fault-"

"Bee...Bee it was _it was_ _ **I killed him**_ -!" Hysteria crept into to human's voice, even as Bee firmly shook his head.

"Primus no, Sam! Never, this wasn't-!"

"-If I hadn't been there he wouldn't have had to rescue my fucking ass! I was so selfish-"

"Bullshit!" Bee jerked back, grabbing Sam by his shoulder and shaking him, ever mindful of the dagger. The blonde's spark broke at the guilt and agony on his bond-brother's face. "Complete bullshit! Primus Sam..."  
The holo dropped his voice, tucking a strand of hair behind the human's ear and smiled sadly at him, "You saved him."

Sam shook his head with more apologies on his lips, only to be stopped by Bee gently placing a finger on them. Despite the pain in his eyes, no blame lay in them and his smile was soft. "I've known my brother for a long time. And without a doubt, you were the best thing to ever happen to him. No!" The holo cut over Sam's muffled protest with a sad laugh, "No, Sam! You have no idea what it was like to walk past you two and hear him laughing. To see him _smiling!"_  
Bee shook his head again, eyes faraway as he recalled the joy that had erupted in his chest at the sight of his brother throwing his head back, his entire body shaking with mirth.

"My brother was more alive in the last two years than he had been since the War began, and that was all because of you. You came into his life like a firework-breaking walls we thought impenetrable and bringing bursts of colour where we thought was only darkness. You did not put the blade in his back-you brought him back to us, if even it was for a short time.  
He loved and will continue to love you more than the moons and stars in the sky. And it would tear his spark if he could hear you blame yourself for something that never was, and never will be your fault."

Bumblebee gave another sad little laugh and carefully pulled Sam's dagger away from his neck, the corner of his mouth turning up when he met little resistance. "You will always hold his spark in the palm of your hand, and you'll always be the brightest star in his sky."

A broken laugh managed to sneak past Sam's lips as his shoulders slumped, and he all but fell into Bee's waiting arms. His bond-brother caught him easily, pressing a kiss into Sam's bloody hair when the human whispered, quiet and exhausted but with _so_ much love,

"He is mine."

* * *

Miles crept over to the figures slumped against Bumblebee's bonnet. Sometime during the night, his chosen had fallen asleep and Sam had rearranged him. Now, Bee's head lay in Sam's lap and the human slowly smoothed his hair, eyes shadowed by his fringe.

"Did you get _any_ sleep?"

Sam's silence spoke for him. Miles shook his head, scratching the back of his neck and dropping to his knees when the other human let out an infuriated hiss and pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead.

" _Brother?" A_ utomatically, he slipped back into Greek without a second thought as he grasped his brother's shoulder. Sam shook his head before he replied in kind.

_"Symbols...symbols that make no sense."_

" _You can't read them?"_ Disbelief coloured Miles's voice, forehead furrowed.

" _No...I can but...it doesn't make_ _ **sense**_ _!"_ Sam hissed as he slipping his hand into his pocket-with the bottom ripped out-and pulled his dagger out of his thigh holster. He quickly carved a string of symbols into the ground, symbols Miles recognised as cybertronian, but not the one Miles was used to seeing on the bots and their work. These seemed more...regal, almost. Regal and ancient, and the only symbol that Miles knew that looked even _close_ to these was-

_'Oh. No wonder Orion was so freaked out after we sent him a picture of what Sam had drawn.'_

Judging by the look on Sam's face, he had already recognised what symbol looked so similar to the ones he had drawn. His face was drawn with exhausted agony, rather than fresh shock and, distractedly, a finger traced out the glyph for a Prime. In an effort to distract him, Miles nudged him with a forced smile.

_"What does it say?"_

"In English, preferably." Mikaela and Bee chimed in, both of them sitting up and wiping dust from their eyes. Bee's eyes widened as he stared at the symbols, gazing back at Sam in disbelief.

"That's the Language of Old...The Language of the Primes."

"Yeah...wait. You-you _don't_ understand it?" The look on Bee's face confirmed that thought. "But, with Ally-?"

"Orion he-" Bumblebee's voice cracked and he cleared his throat before continuing. "He taught me some set phrases. The Pledge of Allegiance and stuff."

Sam nodded, swallowing before he read out was being said. "When dawn alights the dagger's tip, three kings will reveal the doorway."

"...What the fuck does that mean?"

'Ah, Miles. Delicate as always.'

Sam snorted, throwing his dagger into the air and catching it with practiced skill. "Dammed if I know."

"Maybe-" Mikaela was interrupted as Leo stumbled out of the corner he had isolated himself to, waving his cell phone above his head.

"Sam! Sam you gotta see this-!"

In a sharp action, Miles slid into Sam's spot as the other human sprang up and grabbed Leo's phone, his world narrowing to just the phone screen.

"-If you resist us, we will destroy the world as you know it."

Vaguely, he could hear Leo in the background, shouting about 'CIA!' and 'Pictures!' and take the phone out of his numb fingers. Part of him knew he should react, do something.  
But those eyes filled his vision, filled his mind. Scattered memories of a man with a pale and unforgiving face, of hands around his throat and a white hot brand burned into his shoulder swallowed him.  
He heard rather than felt the crack across his cheek as Mikaela slapped him, but it served its purpose. He sucked in an aching breath, as if it was his first gasp of air after drowning.

"Sam? Sam are you-"

"Abaddon."

The fire whipped as if a sharp breeze had brushed across the camp. When he met Mikaela's eyes, for a split second, Proteus stared back at Theodosia, both their faces drawn and terrified.  
"Abaddon has returned."

* * *

_Proteus kept his head bowed, hood of his cloak shadowing his face as he stood on the second step of the alter. As the king's soon-consort, he was considered equal to the king's highest advisor-who stood at the same level on the other side of the alter- and second only to the king himself. Each step after and opposite him held the other advisors, placed in order of their rank._

_The Royal Council had been summoned into the great hall, a room with an impossible high ceiling and made entirely out of black marble. Cloth banners draped from the ceiling to the floor, and black chandeliers and flamed torches gave light. Other than that, the room was entirely empty, though a huge slab of marble which served as a table would rise out of the floor at the king's command._

_The king himself lounged on his throne made of pure aganeth-a white gem that shone like the stars themselves had been pulled from the sky and enclosed in the gem-which was the only colour in the room, other than the kings platinum hair. The gem burned even brighter in comparison to the king's black cloak, draped like a waterfall of night, which hid the armour which was coloured with the blood of his enemies. Though the royal's body was relaxed and he held an expression of boredom, his crimson eyes burned with a smug fire that sent a shiver down Proteus's spine._

_They waited in silence for what felt like hours and only practice stopped Proteus from flinching when the doors finally burst open. Two guards entered, dragging a man with matted black hair behind them. More guards followed, weapons already out and ready to strike as they stared down at the figure hatefully. The guards twisted their prisoner around, forcing him to his knees. With his hands tied behind his back and the guard's grip on his hair, he was forced to stare at the ground while his hair covered his face like a curtain. Abaddon rose from his throne, viper-smile on his lips as he threw his head back and laughed, a mocking sound that echoed around the hall._

_"Well isn't this delightful..." He hissed, tongue that should be forked swiping across his teeth. "On your knees like a dog, aren't you?"_

_The man made no reply, but he was practically vibrating with fury. Abaddon seemed to take his lack of answer as agreement and he laughed again, shoulder-length blonde hair burning like a beacon. Suddenly, he gestured to Proteus, a finger beckoning him. Swallowing his disgust, he climbed the last step and allowed Abaddon to wrap an arm around his waist and pull him into his side. Tilting his head up Abaddon pressed a kiss against unresponsive lips, then turned to sneer down at the kneeling man._

_"Pitiful sight isn't he, my love? Nothing more than a pathetic dog, my dear Proteus."_

_The man's head snapped up and Proteus wrenched himself from Abaddon's side, sprinting down from the alter with a pained gasp. Deaf to his king's livid roar, he dropped to his knees and cupped the man's face in his hand, the other brushing his hair out of the way._

_"Oh Hunter, what have they done to you?"_

_It came out like a broken sob as his fingertips ghosted over the prince's face, which was a mess of scratches and bruises. Blood matted his hair and dried in rivers from his forehead, but despite it, Hunter's eyes were soft and devoted._

_"Proteus..." It was breathed like a prayer and he tilted his head forward to rest it against his love's, tension already bleeding from his body. Proteus pressed a soft kiss against Hunter's cracked lips, only to cry out as a hand buried itself in his hair and dragged him back._

_Hunter roared in fury and tried to get to his feet, only to be hit in the back of the head with the grip of a sword hard enough to send him crashing down again._   
_Proteus felt himself being dragged up the steps and thrown into the throne, dragging another agonized cry from him. Hunter roared again, struggling against his guards helplessly. Abaddon's face loomed into his vision, burning in fury._

_"This is how you repay me?!" The king roared, stamping down on his wrist hard enough to snap the bone. "I found you wandering the streets, orphaned! I took you in, fed you and clothed you! I draped you in jewels and gave you a position that others would kill their young for, and in payment you lay with our enemy's heir?!"_

_Abaddon grabbed him by his broken wrist and dragged him up, wrenching another scream from Proteus. Swinging him around, he forced him to his knees, facing Hunter. The prince was snarling at the king, promising retribution with wild eyes. Abaddon wrapped one hand around Proteus neck and used the other to pull his cloak off and drag the collar of his forest green shirt down. He grasped his shoulder, nails biting into the fragile skin, and spat something in müllgoreth, the language of serpents and night.  
A scream ripped itself from Proteus's lips as his shoulder burned, like a branding iron had been placed against it. Minutes lasted hours, until Abaddon threw him to the side with a snarl of "Whore!"_

_The king was not expecting what happened next._

_Proteus rolled, sliding into a crouch like a tiger about to spring and threw his hands towards Abaddon. In a flash of blue, he flew back, head over heels until he cracked into the wall opposite. The Royal Council sprang forward, only to be frozen mid-step when the redhead waved his hand at them. The guards who ran at him found themselves in a similar position, unable to move as Proteus stalked towards Abaddon like a panther. The king only had a second to muse at how the man looked more regal in this moment than he ever had draped in jewels, before Proteus flicked his wrist and he was dragged to his feet._

_"Orphaned? No,_ _**uncle** _ _." The word was spat, dripping with disgust. "I was_ _**stolen** _ _. You took me from my home, from my parents. I am no orphan! I am Proteus Chaikin, son of Tancred, under the protection of King Cynesige. And I am no_ _**whore!** _ _" He snarled, sapphire eyes glowing as the air around him crackled with energy "I am entwined to Hunter Alantia, heir to the Shining City of Alantia. He claimed me long before you ever had a chance! And I am going_ _**home** _ _!"_

_With that, he turned on his heel and all but glided back to Hunter. The prince raised an eyebrow, even as his eyes shone with pride._

_"You've been practicing."_

_Proteus shrugged with a bashful smile as he leaned forward to press a kiss against the mark of royalty on Hunter's cheek._

_"Had to do something while you were away. Now," Proteus wrapped his arms around Hunter, buried his face in his neck and opened his side of their link. He felt his Entwined do likewise, pressing a kiss against his soft skin. "Close your eyes." Proteus whispered, even as warm blue energy wrapped around them like a cocoon. "And think of home."_

_Hunter gently nudged the memory of playing hide and seek in the dinning hall together through their now open link. Despite the exhaustion that was already creeping in, Proteus smiled at the sight of his child version giggling as the younger Hunter pretend not to see him._

_"Home."_

_In a flash, they were gone._

* * *

"I failed him." Dijon's first words after he had all but destroyed the training room came out hoarsely, like he had been gargling glass. He hadn't reacted when he stumbled onto the scene that would haunt his nightmares-his best friend, gone, covered in energon while his Chosen screamed-hadn't done anything other than gave orders in that horrible, detached voice. His optics had remained blank when he stepped off the plane and Chromia had threw herself into his arms with a sob. His jaw had remained set when Quickfire beat her little fists against his leg to told him to bring her generator back.

But in the privacy of their room, sitting on their bed and leaning into his Chosen, he allowed his tears to fall.

Will ran his fingers through Dijon's hair as the holo hid his face in his stomach. The tear tracks had already dried on his face, and sorrow had left him with a bone deep exhaustion. The holo gave another shudder, his grip on Will's waist tightening just slightly, before he let go. The human smiled sadly down at him, bending down to press a kiss at the corner of a blue-rimmed eye.

"Di-"

"I was charged with protecting him. I promised _Max_ I would protect him. And I _**failed**_."

Will shook his head, pressing another kiss against his lover's hair. "You couldn't have-"

"I should have been faster-!"

" _Dijon!_ " The human shook his head, exhaling shakily. " _Don't_ do this. This isn't what he'd want."

Dijon was saved from answering when their room door opened and Epps stood there, fists clenched. He opened his mouth a few times, before running a hand over his face, displaying bloody knuckles. Seemed Dijon wasn't the only one who reacted violently to sorrow.

Finally, Epps spoke, voice like gravel. "He'll be home in five minutes."

Will shut his eyes, suddenly completely unprepared to see them drop the broken shell of his..(Friend? No, it didn't seem enough, he was more than that.)... brother.

Dijon nodded, swallowing harshly before rising with his mask back in place.

* * *

" _Athena_ , bless me!" Sam grabbed the phone that was being waved in front of his face and yanked the back off. Twisting, he threw it at one side of the courtyard, pulled the battery out and threw it in the other direction. Muttering a curse, he dropped the phone to the ground and stamped on it, grinding it under his heel.

"See that? They can track us with that! GPS...Dammit Leo, you cry about government cover ups all damn day but you don't think to check that?!"

"Look man, I didn't ask for this-!"

 _ **"BUT YOU DID!"**_ Sam roar echoed around the courtyard, eyes catching fire and symbols burning."You wanted the 'Real Deal', Leo?! Well wake up, cause you're in the middle of it! This is the 'Real Deal'! It's not trolling YouTube videos-It's death and blood and fighting every goddamn second to try and get home to you family! You want to run? Go ahead! No one's stopping you!"

He whipped around and stormed back to Bee's alt, leaning against the door heavily. Distractedly, he noted Leo shouting something else and the twins snarking something back at him, but ignored it. He stared at his trembling hands, clenching them into fists and trying desperately to will away the energy. Blood roared in his ears as images flashed in front of him, of energon and blood and screams-

_'Take a breath for me, darlin''_

_'You're not real.'_ Sam answered back, eyes screwed shut as if it could block out the voice that never failed to make his heart sing.

_'C'mom darlin', breathe for me.'_

_'Please stop.'_ Sam held back a sob as a warm weight seem to wrap around him, chasing away the ice around his heart. ' _Dead dead dead.'_ His chest was tight, lungs screaming

_'Darlin', **please**. I love you.'_

With a gasp, Sam took a breath, blinking away tears _._

_'It's alright darlin'. You're alright.'_

_'You're not here. You're dead. But I love you.'_

_'I love you so much.'_ There was the lightest touch of warmth on his forehead, like a kiss, and then it was gone. Cold slammed into the human again and he wrapped his arms around himself, unable to stop the breath of a sob that slipped out.

Even the delusion of Orion was gone.

Two smaller forms crashed into him, breaking him out of the aching emptiness that choked him. Skids and Mudflap looked up at him, hugging him tightly around the waist and looking achingly young.

"Orion said we give the best hugs and always make him feel better. Dijon called him a sap though."

Sam forced himself to laugh quietly, leaning down to press a kiss against their hair. "He was right."

"Which one?"

"Both of them; I feel much better and your brother was the biggest sap I've ever met."

Though they all flinched at the past tense, Sam faked another smile at them, ruffling their hair.

A throat cleared to their right and the human rolled his eyes to the heavens before turning, Skids and Mudflap still glued to his side and glaring at the human who had upset their brother's Chosen.

"I had a bit of a mild panic attack earlier, right?"

"That's 'cause you're a pussy." Skids muttered under his breath, grudgingly apologising when Bee called out to him and Sam tapped his head with a warning look.

"I think I'm allowed that, considering what I've been through."

 ** _"'What you've been through'?!_** " Only Bee's restraining arms stopped Miles from jumping forward and _throttling_ the little _brat_.

"I heard you have a problem. I think I know someone who can help."

Sam's eyebrow rose, staring a Leo incredulously. " ** _Who_**?" He didn't bother trying to hide his disbelief.

"Robo-Warrior."

The redhead let out a pained groan even as Bumblebee and the other two humans chorused the name, voices dripping with scepticism.


	45. Cold and Lost in Devastation

The white, clean handkerchief Mikaela had passed to him with confused eyes would have to do, until he got his mother's-found pressed between the pages of a storybook that had somehow survived the flames.

Using Mikaela's eyeliner, he carefully drew the twisting loops of the rune he had first swore, then prayed he would never have to use. Taking an unsteady breath, he pushed the tears slipping down his cheeks away with the heel of his palm, and returned to the rune. It was beautiful, in the way someone totally at peace in death was. As soon as he was able, it would be tattooed over his heart and on his wrist, a message to all who knew it that the bearer had lost that who held their heart, mind, body and soul.

He would use his mother's-as tradition dictated-and embroider the rune carefully, adding Orion's name. Then, as he was currently doing, he would tie it around his upper arm, over the tattoo he received exactly one year, seven months and five days ago. The tattoo he received five days after his birthday, when he had Chosen Orion and Orion had Chosen him.

Taking a few more unsteady breaths, he again wiped away the tears that had spilled down his cheeks the second he had secured the cloth, and leaned his head against the window. His eyes were half-closed as he gazed out of Bee's passenger seat window, exhaustion trying to drag those stubborn lids shut but failing to do so against his iron-clad will.

In the back-seat and curled into opposite corners, Leo and Mikaela had already submitted to Hypnos and Miles was a hair's breath away from doing likewise in the driver's seat. Sam, despite Bee's best efforts such as warming his seat and playing soft music over the radio, refused to shut his eyes. His people, he already knew, would say it was because he was trying to protect those around him, because his instincts didn't allow him to shut-off when on high alert, or because he simply didn't need the rest. The truth, actually, was something much simpler.

He couldn't bear to see Orion fall again.

Exhaling uncomfortably, Sam shifted slightly, gently dragging the black undershirt away from his still-healing cuts with a pained grimace. The movement lightly jolted the tiny sparkling who had been snoozing peacefully in his arms, and he startled awake with a confused cry.

"Hey, little one." Sam soothed down at him, smoothing a thumb over his helm.

The sparkling blinked up at him, and then snuggled into his shirt with a sleepy, "Hi."

"Are you okay?"

He nodded quickly, tiny fingers tangling with the fabric of Sam's green plaid shirt. "Are you going to send me away?", he whispered, tiny frame trembling slightly and large scarlet optics gazing up beseechingly. Miles snapped out of his doze and Bee's dashboard flared violently.

Sam's arms tightened around him, eyes turning to flint at the terrified, _resigned_ voice coming from someone who should be innocent and care-free.

"No, little one. I'm not going to send you away."

"You should." He confessed and though his voice was quiet, it was firmer than concrete. "My Carrier said I'm a bad sparkling. That's why I have to be not-bad until I earn a designation."

Carefully, Miles reached over from the driver's seat and clasped Sam's knee. The other human was livid, vibrating in rage and only brought back to the present when Miles squeezed his knee once in warning. He swallowed, forcing away some of his anger so he could gently tilt the sparkling's head up with a soft smile painted on.

"I think you have been a very brave sparkling, and you've been very, very good. I think, you've earned a designation."

The sparkling's optics lit up in hopeful wonder and he covered his lip-plates with shaking fingers."Really?", he squeaked breathlessly, giggling in excitement when a small, true smile appeared on Sam's lips. In his delight, he bounced in excitement, before something occurred to him which caused him to freeze and look up with panic-filled optics. "I don't know what to use as a designation!"

"Don't worry, little one." Sam reassured him, smoothing away his worried frown with his fingertips. "We'll figure something out."

"Mmmm..." Leo smacked his lips together as he stretched, only to snap upright so fast Sam had a fleeting moment of worry over the damage it would do to his spine.

"This is it! This is where RoboWarrior works!"

"Stalker." Mikaela hissed under her breath as she was startled awake, running her fingers through her hair to try and make it look less like a rat's nest.

The moment Bee had stopped, Leo flung the door open so hard all three still in the car snarled at him, sounding far more like their partners than they would ever know. Sheepishly, he closed the door gently, popping his head through the window.

"Alright, I'm going to go in and scope things out, alright bro?"

Not waiting for a reply, Leo spun on his heel and slunk into the shop so secretively, it actually drew more attention to himself. Rolling their eyes, the other three humans got out, Sam pausing to give the sparkling a reassuring hug. Bumblebee's holo appeared in the driver's seat, dressed in black and frame tense. Miles leaned in though the open window and pressed a soft kiss against his lips, smiling softly as he pulled away.

Sam stiffened, quickly looking away from the two and covertly rubbing the gaping wound in his chest. Biting down on his lip, he forced away the tears building in his eyes, freezing when once more, the phantom of a hand touched his shoulder. He shook his head sharply, shrugging off the hand with a whisper.

" _Not real._ "

The warm breeze that played with his hair was only the wind, he tried to convince himself.

The leaves on the tree beside the deli hadn't so much as wavered.

As he took another step towards the deli, a shiver ran up his spine, as if someone had whispered a curse on his name. Glancing around, he saw nothing, but shared a wary look with Miles. The blonde was looking similarly haunted, but straightened his spine and painted a smile as he pushed his way into the deli, followed by Sam. His fugitive brother walked in confidently, without covering his face or trying to avoid eye contact. In doing so, the customers in the shop only saw a young man coming to buy food, and therefore had no reason to do anything more than glance at him.

Miles slowly weaved his way through the customers to stand behind Leo, who was glaring at one of the server's backs. He just touched the collage student's shoulder, but Leo spun around and grabbed his arm, yelling and pointing to the man behind the counter.

"This is him! That's Robo-Warrior!"

Grey eyes met blue.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Miles' voice was a whisper, half in awe as Simmons stared at him, dishcloth limply dangling from his hand in shock. The grey haired Alpha raked his eyes over the blonde, and pride flared in his eyes at his confident stance and the swirling, jet-black tattoo that screamed _Chosen_ displayed proudly on his arm.  
His eyes then darted to Sam, sharp gaze taking in the white cloth with a single, sorrowful black rune tied around the same tattoo on his badly scratched arm. His eyes met Sam's, and sorrow and pity flooded them at the Rebel's blank stare and the pained crease around his eyes.  
Then the switch flipped, and the pity was burned up by fury.

"Oh, look what the cat dragged in!" He spat, throwing down the towel with badly concealed rage. "The little traitors who spat on their family and ran like cowards!"

Miles flinched almost unnoticeably, even as his brother remained blank. Simmons stormed out from behind the counter, stalking towards the boys in a cloud of fury.

"Over a century of protecting the planet and then poof! Gone in an instant! A signature and I'm out on my ass, working in a goddamn _deli_! I trained _heroes_ , for the love of the gods!"

Miles shook his head, swallowing harshly. "We didn't have a choice-"

"-You _ruined_ my life! Everything I had, everything I worked for, gone! And NBE-1 still alive and kicking, huh?! I don't care why you're here, I want you gone!"

"Simmons!" The blonde tried again, desperately. "Please, just give us five minutes!"

"No, I've had a bad enough weekend as it is! You have no idea-!"

Sam struck like a viper, slamming Simmons against the wall with his dagger pushed against his throat. He spat twisted curse at him, eyes burning like a rapid dog.

" _'A bad weekend'?_ " he hissed through bared teeth as the symbols hidden in the ink swirling across his skin burst to life. He threw his head back with a twisted laugh, shaking his head as if what Simmons said had honestly amused him.

"Okay, I had a little NBE plunge a device deep into the soft tissues of my brain and started projecting symbols off it, just like when you and my uncle decided I should be used as test subject for the Clairvoyant technology, so that brought back _wonderful_ memories! I'm also a wanted fugitive! And we haven't even got to the _really good_ part yet!"

He laughed again, agonised and manic and hysterical.

"I had to watch my Chosen die right in front of me! I had to stand there, unable to help! Utterly useless! My everything, and I could do _nothing!_ "

His hands trembled like a leaf in a November wind, and Simmons could only watch, horrified.

"I couldn't save him! I-I-"

He choked out a sob, gasping for breath. Simmons swallowed and reached out to clasp Sam's shoulder. The second he made contact, Sam drew into himself so fast it gave the elder whiplash. His face smoothed into a blank canvas and he stepped back, removing his dagger from Simmons' throat.

"The symbols the NBE was able to extract matched those found on your website, and therefore I require all information relating to them."

His voice was toneless and without infliction, as if he was simply reciting words off a page. Simmons stared back at him before swallowing, face hardening once more.

"They were a direct match?"

"Yes."

"Follow me."

* * *

"What we need is to draw up battle plans!" Will snarled, hands in tight fists at his side. Ironhide swore behind him, trembling with fury at the blatant disrespect the weasel of a man was showing his best friend's offlined corpse. Elita-1 (Ariel had regressed back into the emotionless commander after drying Quickfire's tears) spat a curse in Cybertronian, lip-plate curling as she looked down at Galloway. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe remained silent as they stood behind Orion's frame, arms crossed and optics narrowed. The silver and gold mechs' armour glinted in the sunlight, sending sparkles dancing across the ground and those gathered there.

The liaison continued to speak over Will, as if his words were files that could be batted away lazily.

"-while we explore every possible diplomatic solution."

"Like what, handing over the kid?" Jazz snarled at him sarcastically, servos twitching. It was a direct insult to his, and his government's, honour. Any man with honour would never turn over-

"All options are being considered." And he _smirked_.

Ratchet let out an incomprehensible sound of outrage and Shadow lunged forward, shrieking in fury when when Barricade plucked him up and dropped him on his shoulder, silencing his outrage with a sharp look. Ironhide and Elita-1 just managed to restrain Jazz, though their optics still burned with hate for the pathetic bug.

Will inhaled deeply, trying to quell the anger that clouded his vision

"There is no negotiating with them." He tried to appeal to the liaison, tried to make him see common sense. Handing over the kid ( _I'll kill you before you touch my little brother_ ) wouldn't solve anything-all it would do is add another name to the list of the dead.  
The Major stepped forward, hand outstretched in an attempt to _reach_ for the man's humanity.

With a barked order and a smug, "You won't be needing this any more", Galloway ripped the patch declaring him a Major off his shoulder, throwing it into the air to be carried by the wind. Lennox froze and his left arm suddenly felt numb, almost as if Galloway had torn his arm off instead. The Autobots intaked sharply, optics flaring violently, and under his breath, Epps whispered a livid and disbelieving, "You goddamn sonofabitch."

"And take that pile of scrap metal back to Diego Garcia!"

Epps dived like a quarterback, tackling Will before he lunged at the government snake. Barricade suddenly found himself with his servos full of Jazz, the Saboteur shrieking in Common Cybertronian while Ratchet and Elita-1's combined strength managed to wrench Ironhide's canon up into the air and stop him from lunging forward.

Galloway climbed back into his car without so much as a glance back, without so much as expressing the barest hint of regret or sorrow over Optimus's death.

Will pushed Epps away, getting back to his feet and snarling under his breath, unknowingly mimicking Ironhide's exact movements. Epps narrowed his eyes at the back of Galloway's car and crossed his arms tightly, muscles straining.

"I really don't like that dude." He said mildly to thin air, lip curling. "He's an ass _hole_."

No-one answered him, but the breath of breeze which tickled his ear sounded oddly like Orion's laugh. Despite himself, a little tension left his shoulders and a half-smile pulled at the corner of his lips.

Behind him, Sunstreaker was whispering furiously in Ironhide's audio while Elita-1 did the same on the other side. Both were livid, snapping at each other and the Warrior until Ironhide pushed them both away with a snarl.

"Ironhide, we should leave this planet!" Sunstreaker beseeched, frame trembling in agitation. "We've lost Orion, we have no way to protect Sam and we are going up against Megatron and his minions again? Alone?! Staying here is suicide!"

Elita-1 barked out a sharp laugh. "So you want us to run like cowards?! Leave our friends and family here to face Megatron's wrath? Leave _Sam_ here to be captured and played with?! I'm sure Orion would have _loved_ that idea!"

Sunstreaker grit his denta, optics flaring brightly. "Orion would hate it, but I'm pretty damn sure he wouldn't want us to die for nothing!"

"Nothing?! There are _billions_ of innocent lives here, and you think that is _nothing?!_ Orion would _never_ turn his back and leave these people to suffer!"

"Well some good that did him, seeing as he is _offlined!"  
_

" ** _Enough!_** " Ironhide roared, whirling on both of them. His chest heaved, denta grinding together as he sharply turned to Ratchet. The medic sighed, offlining his optics in exhaustion.

"Staying is dangerous. But leaving-"

"-Is not what Orion would want." Ironhide finished for him, nodding tiredly. He sighed, glancing back down at Orion's frame before swallowing the tightness in his throat. "We stay."

Sunstreaker tightened his lip-plates, but said nothing.

* * *

As Miles watched Simmons flit around his little cave, he couldn't help the stab of pity he felt for the man who trained him and seemed like a hero to him when he was a child, was reduced to _this_. Then he remembered the pained noises his Chosen had made when he had ordered him to to be capture and that was gone it a blaze and _the back of his neck looked so **tempting**..._

Sam caught his arm and disarmed him, pocketing his knife. His face was cold, but not disapproving, as if he would have reacted in the same manner.

'P _fft, 'as if'. Last time Megs **tried** to hurt Orion, Sam literally burnt him. I almost feel sorry for him.' _ Miles thought with a snort, waving away Mikaela's raised eyebrows.

Simmons jumped down from the ladder he was precariously perched on, smirking at the three teenagers clustered around the table in the centre of the room.

"Okay, Cube-brain. Any of these look like the symbols you saw?"

Simmons flicked up the first picture of the file and Sam all but launched himself across the table, snatching the file out of his hands. His eyes flicked across the pictures, reading the glyphs with astounding speed.

_'Dawn'_   
_'Three Kings'_   
_'Doorway'_   
_'Dagger's Tip'_

"Where did you get these?' He breathed, flicking back and forth between them. Miles peeked over his shoulder, eyes wide at the unfamiliar NBEs in places which they hadn't been recorded.

Another cover-up.

"Project Black Knife. The Transformers haven't just been showing up for no reason, Lightning. And they haven't just been looking for the Cube. These guys-" he tapped the pictures, pointing at the car straight out of the 1930s. "-have been all over. China, Egypt, Greece. All over the world, all at different times, and all bearing these symbols. Robots in disguise, hiding here all along."

Simmons' eyes had gained a fevered light, jabbing at the photo's again. "We detected radioactive signatures all across the country. I _pleaded_ on my _knees_ with S7 to investigate it, but they said the readings were infinitesimal, that I was obsessed! Can you believe that?!"

After a few moments of silence, Simmons scowled at the two Elites, both of who avoided his eyes. Before Simmons spoke again, Sam hastily pushed forward, laying his palms flat on the table.

"Yeah. Megatron-" He rolled his eyes at Simmons' confused face, pushing down his temper. "- _NBE-1_ said that there was another Energon source here on Earth. Like the Cube." He snapped at Simmons' incomprehension, forcing a deep breath a few seconds later. "And that these symbols, this map in my head, would lead him there."

The Alpha leaned forward, forehead furrowed in worry.

"You talk to your Autobot friends about this?"

"Yes, but it is unknown to them. Whatever the Energon source is, it pre-dates them."

"Well, then we're porked, unless we can talk to a Decepticon. I mean, I'm not on speaking terms with them."

Sam, Miles and Mikaela's heads snapped up. Undecipherable to Simmons and Leo, a conversation shot between them, only to be ended when Sam slid his PADD off his wrist and propped it up on the table. Silently, he swiped and poked at it, until suddenly, a black screen was projected on the opposite wall. After a few seconds, Barricade's face appeared, optics brightening in shock at the small company.

"Primus! Are you three okay? Where are you, hold on, I'll get Will-"

"Cade, no!" Barricade froze at Sam's shout. The human ran a hand through his hair, forcing it up in random directions. "This line isn't secure so we haven't got a lot of time. I _need_ your help right now, okay?"

Quickly, the mech nodded, optics brightening further at the pictures Sam held up. "Sam... those are Seekers! Old seekers. They've been around for thousands of years, looking for something. But, I'm sorry, I don't know what."

"That's okay. Will they be able to understand this, or have any idea to what it pertains to?" A little tension left his shoulders when Sam held up the symbols and Barricade nodded quickly.

"They are the next most likely to know."

Both of them winced at the not-reference to Orion, but forced it past.

"Do you know where we can find them?"

Barricade nodded, listing off a number of states and places. Miles wavered for a second, before grabbing one of the photos and flipping it around. Deaf to Simmons' pained groan, he quickly jotted down what Barricade was listing on the back, ignoring his grumbles.

When he had trailed off, he stared at Sam for a few seconds, optics cataloguing everything, before quietly asking, "Is there any messages you wish to pass on?"

"Tell Will we're following a lead and-" Sam paused for a heartbeat, then smiled sadly and whispered,"-tell Quickfire that daddy loves her."

Barricade nodded, optics soft, and vanished.

Silence reigned for a few minutes, before Simmons sighed in resignation and dragged the photograph over to himself, scanning the list quickly.

"The closest one's in Washington. Smithsonian Air and Space Museum."


	46. Holy Water Cannot Help You Now

Miles stared out at the rising sun, examining the bloody sky with dark eyes as he tapped his arm.

_Tap-tap-tap-tap_

_Tap-tap-tap-tap_

_Tap-tap-tap-tap_

Sam's fingers stilled Miles', lips pressed tightly together. His own fingers trembled, aching to follow the beat that pulsed in his heart.

After training, along with their mask and name, each Elite received a their own Song. No two Songs were alike, each was a completely unique swirl of crescendos and diminuendos that encapsulates the Elite's soul and skill.

Each Song is entirely individual, except for one similarity. Underneath, in the very base of the Song, hidden unless the Song was stripped to its very roots, was the heartbeat of the Elites. The sound that echoed distantly in their head when their instincts had been triggered by some tiny thing-like the flicker of a shadow, the whisper of a breath or an unshakable feeling that some thing just wasn't 'right'. Something that was so infinitesimal that it passed unnoticed, except for a distant thumping in their heads.

A quiet, pounding beat. A drum that echoed in their heads and hearts.

_Dun-dun-dun-dun_

_Dun-dun-dun-dun_

It was the blood flowing through their veins and the pulse of their heart.

It was the Sound of Drums, and it warned of blood and death.

Exhaling shakily, Sam leaned against Bee as Simmons gave the one of the worst prep-talks he had ever heard in his life, which was about to become utterly useless as Sam was just about to remind him that he still had his 'Government Official' badge and merely needed to flash it at the guards to get in. He glanced over at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, watching a few early employees heave themselves in, clutching coffee and glaring at the 5AM sun.

Miles started checking his weapons while, absent-mindedly, Sam pulled out one of his knives and began picking dried blood from under his nails, unknowingly forcing Leo to shuffle a few steps closer to Mikaela.

"Are they purposely trying to intimidate us?"

Mikaela blinked at him, turning to stare at her brothers. To her, Miles just looked normal, albeit more colder than usual. Sam, of course, was a shadow of himself, but not what she would call _intimidating_. They had both changed into the dark jeans and long sleeved thermal shirts Miles had bought in a hurry, which clung like a second skin and did nothing to hide their sharp, toned abs. Both were fiddling with their weapons and both had a glint in their eyes which would send brave men hurrying quickly in the opposite direction.

But for the life of her, Mikaela could only see the dads who had panicked when Swiftwing had had a fever and Quickfire scraped her knee.

"Watches synchronised, sharp mind and empty bladder." Simmons reminded them, pulling the cuff of his jacket down. He swung around to glare at Leo, eyes narrowed and sharp. "You get caught, demand an attorney and don't ever say my name." Violently, he zipped up his jacket, holding his glare for a few moments until he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pill bottle.

He tipped one small white pill into each of the hands offered to him, noting distractedly that all bar one were rough from hard work.

"Okay, take one of these pills and slip it under your tongue. It's the high-concentrate polymer they put in Oreo cookies."

Mikaela raised her eyebrows, staring at the greying man, who could only shrug with a sheepish smile. "Tricks the polygraph every time. Okay. Now, let's get this show on the road-"

There was an almost-silent _whiz_ and Sam lunged forward and spun, snatching the shaft of the arrow whizzing towards Simmons mid-flight. His eyes snapped to the cars parked across the lot, cursing himself at their clearly tactical arrangement. In seconds, a volley of arrows shot from them, forcing the Unspeakable to drop to his knees to avoid them.

Miles lunged forward to grab Mikaela and drag her down to hide along Bee's side, ducking below the driver's window. Simmons grabbed Leo by the collar and dragged him down beside Mikaela, hissing at him to be silent. Bee's trunk flew open and Miles ducked around, hollering a curse when another arrow left a bloody gash across his shoulder. Bee's holo pulled his gun from subspace and, after a quick breath, started firing from his bonnet, ducking down every now and again.

"Sam!"

The redhead caught the bow and arrow Miles threw at him and quickly prepared it from where he crouched, just below to top of Bee's bonnet. With a muffled swear, he yanked Bee back from where he was unloading his gun when an arrow ruffled the tips of his sunny hair. The human inhaled once, then twisted up to let his arrow fly on his exhale, his face drained of any emotion.

Miles crouched beside him, his own face a mask of fury as his crossbow shot off arrow after arrow towards the Elites who _dared_ to attack his family, _especially_ his brother when they knew _damn rightly_ what he had just gone through. They were _goddamn cowards-_

His train of thought was cut off when an arrow stabbed into Bee's passenger side door and his holo jolted with a cry.

" _Shit!"_

He dropped the crossbow to press his hands against Bee's side in an attempt to stop the flow of glowing blue, wincing when his Chosen gave another small cry in response. Carefully, he pulled him down beside Mikaela, who thankfully snapped into action and smuggled a thick wad of cotton out of Bee's back-seat and pressed it against his side, already gathering more supplies to patch up the side of his actual body as soon as the arrows stopped whistling through the air.

...Speaking of...

Miles mumbled another swear under his breath as, in the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Sam dropping his bow and arrow and sliding across Bee's bonnet in a graceful leap.

Sam would have completely missed the first Elite, if it was not for the tiniest glint of reflected sun on his blade. He twisted just in time to see the Elite charge at him with wild eyes, delicately designed sickle raised for a killing blow.

Not faltering a step, he raised the glock-

* * *

_"My dagger is fine!" he laughed, holding the empty .45 gingerly._

_"I know, I know!" Orion laughed, hands up in surrender and eyes twinkling. "Still, I would feel better if you had one, just in case? Please? For me?"_

_The human sighed, looking down at the gun warily. "I'm not very good with guns." He admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "When I was getting Frenzy out...", h_ _e stopped to take a breath, leaning into the comforting hand on his shoulder and missing the blazing glint of fury in Orion's eyes. "I shot one of the scientists in the shoulder."_

_"And that was bad because...?" Orion promoted, one eyebrow quirked._

_Sam blushed and coughed in embarrassment. "I was aiming for his knee. Don't laugh!" He hurriedly demanded, scratching the back of his neck with the barrel of the gun. He jumped at the strangled noise Orion made and stared in befuddlement when the holo all but snatched the gun out of hand, face pale._

_"For the love of Primus," the holo shook his head fervently, voice slightly strangled "Do **not** do that again!"_

_"It wasn't even loaded-"_

_"Not the point!"_

_"Alright!" Sam laughed, hands raised in mock-surrender. "Calm down!"_

_"Calm down?! 'Calm down', he says. 'Ill just put this gun to my head buy hey, calm down'!" Orion muttered, pulling the gun out of Sam's reach when he went to grab it._

_"It wasn't even loaded!" Sam defended, jumping onto the holo's back. On reflex, Orion hooked one hand under Sam's knee to keep him steady, but still held the gun out of reach with the other, biting down a laugh._

_"Not the point!"_

_Sam growled at the mech, and, quickly, swung himself around, wrapping his legs around Orion's waist and weaving his fingers through his hair. Pulling the mech close, he sealed his lips over Orion's, sighing as he did so._

_Automatically, Orion kissed him back, a pleased little sound rumbling in his chest. For half a minute Sam's mind went completely blank, lost in the feel of Orion's lips and shuddering when Orion's hand moved from holding his knee to slip under his shirt, burning like a hot brand against the small of his back. The mech pulled Sam tight against him until the human could feel the gentle, content pulse of the mech's spark through the flimsy layer if clothing separating them._

__(He hated clothes)_ _

_With a hitched gasp, Orion pulled away to press kisses down Sam's neck, the scrape of stubble making the human sigh happily. As Orion did so, the hand holding the gun ended up pressing against Sam's shoulder, the gun pointing off in the opposite direction to the human. As fast as his old codename, Sam snatched the gun out of Orion's hand and twisted away, landing on his feet with a tinkling laugh._

_The holo blinked at him for a moment, mouth parted for a second, before he shook his head like a dog and grinned ruefully at Sam._

_"Cheating." He reminded him, grin growing wider when Sam laughed again and threw himself into his arms._

_"I still never said I played fair."_

_Orion laughed with him, though still looked at the gun like he regretted giving it to Sam in the first place. Sam followed his eyes and shrugged, pulling back slightly and turning it over in his hand._

_"I really am not good at it, though. Blowing out Barricades tires was a lucky shot."_

_"Okay." Orion nodded, still glaring at the gun warily, as if he was afraid it would suddenly grow bullets and jump to Sam's forehead. "I'll teach you."_

_Sam wavered, sighing with a crooked smile when Orion turned him, pressing himself flush with his back. Clever fingers traced up his thighs and across his hard stomach, sliding further up and then down his arms to close his hands over Sam's. The human melted back into his embrace, allowing the Prime to guide his arms up and carefully rearrange his fingers so he was holding the gun without risking hurting himself._

_"Always keep your eyes open. And do not put the gun to your head, loaded or not. Habits form whether they are harmless at the time or not." Orion whispered into his ear, curling Sam's finger around the trigger. "And never pull the trigger; just squeeze it."_

_He pressed a soft kiss against Sam's cheek, his azure eyes sparkling with pride and adoration._

* * *

_-_ and squeezed the trigger, catching the Elite straight between their eyes. The cloaked man jerked, body curling backwards as he fell, a stream of blood following his fall in a weightless arch.

A second Elite sprinted at him from behind another of the parked cars with a scream, shuriken spinning through the air so quickly, and Sam didn't quite mange to dodge out of the way in time. The silver star sliced the tip of his ear, not only sending his silver helix tinkling to the ground, but also a sudden burning burst of pain flashing through him before it vanished back into numbness. Warm, wet copper trickled down and into his ear and he fired again as he slid across the bonnet of one of the cars, dropping the second Elite like her brother.

He still hadn't broken stride.

The third and fourth Elites dropped like the first two, leaving unfelt gashes on the unflinching human.

The fifth Elite managed to tackle Sam as he leapt across another bonnet, knocking him to the ground beside the car and sending the glock spinning under the nearest car.

Sam's breathing stopped and his mind ran on an infinite loop because because ' _that's the gun Orion gave me that's the gun Orion gave me that's the gun-'._

He reacted on instinct, lashing out as he tried to scrabble across the gravel and claw his way to it, only to be forced onto his back as the Elite straddled him. He tried to arch up to throw the grinning Elite off, only for a pair of hands to clamp down on his wrists and his ankles, holding him in place.

The Elite raised his arm, scarlet sun turning his blade bloody, and slashed down.

And slumped to the ground, eyes wide and staring, the blazing blue fletching of the arrow standing in the centre of his forehead splattered with sticky scarlet.

The Elite holding Sam's wrists glanced up just in time to see Miles landing on top of the roof of the car and the very tip of blonde's arrow, before he dropped like his partner. The other Elite fell the same way, hazel eyes staring at the bloody sky.

With a strangled sound close to a sob, Sam snatched up his gun, running his fingers over it until he was satisfied there was no damage done. Miles dropped down beside him, hesitating when Sam dropped his head and his shoulders violently shuddered. Slowly, he reached out, only to snap his arm back when Sam abruptly snapped to his feet.

He nodded curtly at Miles, face expressionless and eyes blank once more.

Cold and fierce and deadly. This was the side of Sam-not the one who was born in his Chosen's energon and somehow seemed a thousand years old and a little lost child-he understood. This side, he could work with.

The next eight Elites dropped in minutes.

They attacked on all sides, mistakenly believing they could catch the brothers in the blind flurry. One of them ended up dead in the crossfire. Once, one darted towards Miles' unprotected back with his épée bâtarde, a beautifully deadly sword. Sam lunged at the Elite, tackling him from the side and sending him crashing to the ground. He grabbed the Elite's dark hair at either side of his head and in one violent twist, the Elite's neck broke and he crumpled, falling on his own sword. Another slammed her dagger into Sam's shoulder, laughing at his roar of pained fury. Miles yanked her head back by her hair and slashed her throat, dropping her in disgust and wiping her blood off his fingers.

The last Elite dropped his weapon and ran, thinking he could get away scot-free.

He had forgotten that Sam had been called Lightning because of his _speed._

Sam slammed him into the side of the car, snatched his first faithful dagger out of its holster and slammed it into the Elite's shoulder so hard, a few inches of the tip was embedded in the car. The brunette screamed and jerked, screaming again when Sam repeated the action on the other shoulder.

" _Coward!_ " He hissed, disgust dripping from his eyes and tongue. "Running away and leaving your brothers and sisters to _rot_. You're a _pathetic_ excuse for a _dog!"_

The Elite whimpered when Sam pressed against the wounds on his shoulders, the Unspeakable not even noticing the razor edge of his daggers digging into the sides of his fingers. "What does Fault Line want?" He snarled, teeth bared in his fury.

"You. Dead." The Elite gasped out, hazel eyes wet. "He said you were v-vunreable. That p-picking you off would be easy now that-"

"-'Now that' what?" The Elite froze as Sam's voice seemed to melt and sharpen, like caramel flowing over glass splinters. "Now that my Chosen is dead? Does Fault Line think that I'll roll over and die so I can be with him again?" The words were a breath, soft and deadly and the Elite could only nod in response.

"Y-yes."

"Well," Sam drawled, mouth pulling up into a sharp smile. "He's not entirely wrong."

A small noise crawled in Miles' throat and he stepped forward, eyes very wide and suddenly very young.

"However..." Sam practically purred the word, smiling savagely again. "I want you to deliver a little message to Fault Line for me, okay? Can you do that?"

The Elite nodded dumbly, swallowing when Sam's smile became what someone would call sweet, if it wasn't for his freezing, wrathful eyes.

"I want you to tell Fault Line that I am tired of his little games." Sam said softly, eyes very bright. "I want you to tell him the second that I have avenged my Chosen, I'm coming for him. And all the armies in the world, all the prayers whispered in the night cannot save him now." He leaned in close, breath hot and sultry in the flustered Elite's ear. "I'm going to break his crown, and I'm coming to burn his kingdom down."

Long, lithe fingers wrapped around the hilt of each dagger and in a single sharp movement, Sam yanked the daggers out of the Elite's shoulders. A deep, guttural roar tore itself from the Elite's throat as he dropped, crashing to his knees. Lip curling, Sam knelt down and tipped his head up, staring into hazel eyes.

"Now, _dog_ , before I change my mind." He leaned in close, biting his lip. The Elite's eyes dropped to it, swallowing as he pulled his eyes back up to Sam's. The Unspeakable smiled again, bright, white, and malicious.

" _ **Run**."_

The Elite stumbled to his feet and ran, launching into one of the cars and speeding away in a flash.

Sam straightened up and waited until he was out of sight, before he stumbled forward, slamming his hands against the nearest car and tightening them into fists. Miles stripped off his ruined shirt, balled it up and pressed it into the wound, biting the inside of his cheek when his brother released a strangled groan in response.

He flustered for a second, grasping for something to say to distract his brother.

"You know he was wearing a wire." Sam's back stiffened and Miles cursed himself "Just, uh, I mean Fault Line heard everything you said anyway so-"

"I know."

"-why did you-What?" Miles jerked as if he had been slapped, protesting fumblingly when Sam pulled away and turned to face him, arms cross and lips set.

"I knew he was wearing a wire."

"Then...Then why did you-why did you let him go?"

Sam swallowed, a tic jumping in his jaw. "The other Elites weren't going to let us walk away. After they had finished with us, they would have moved on to Bee and Mikaela and the twins and-" he stuttered a breath, biting the inside of his cheek before continuing. "They wouldn't have stopped. It was us or them. He, however, was leaving. He wanted to live and he was going to let us as well. He threw down his arms Miles and-"

He took a shaky breath, wrapping an arm around himself tightly and his other hand moving up to clutch his Astrum tightly, before he continued, desperately. "I'm not like him. I'm-I'm not Tom and I'm not Jason."

Miles nodded softly, stepping towards his brother.

"I'm not like them." Sam insisted, lip trembling slightly. Miles took another step forward, only to stumble away when Mikaela's dark hair appeared in the corner of his eye.

Quickly, silently, she cleaned and dressed the wound, biting her lip as she helped Sam into the spare black shirt. She silently tipped his head up and poured some disinfectant on the wide cut on Sam's left cheek, frowning as she did so. It looked like someone had held him down and peeled off a nickel-sized layer of skin, leaving it raw and painful to look at. However, that was not what was annoying her. When they found him and Orion, she was _sure_ that the cut was only the size of a dime. Now, it had seemed to have grown, reaching outwards slowly.

Shaking her head, she stepped back and glanced down at the nearest Elite, before taking a deep breath and nodding at her brothers, conviction clear.

"They would have killed us. They would have killed the kids." She stuttered, fingers trembling before she pushed on with fierce, fiery eyes. "You did what had to be done."

Then she sighed, rubbed her arms quickly and glanced over at the museum. "Ready?"

Carefully, Sam extracted a thin wallet from his back pocket and flicked it open, displaying an FBI card and badge with a picture of a hopelessly besotted and happy human. A human who was almost unrecognisable in comparison to the man holding it.

* * *

Miles kissed Bee on the forehead, checking both the holo's and the Camaro's side. Mikaela had done her best with her limited supplies, but the Rebel knew his Chosen was still in pain. In fact, it was glaringly obvious, due to the fact the Scout agreed to stay with the twins and youngling without argument.

They got into the museum surprisingly easy, looking back retrospectively. The moment they walked in the door and towards the female guard who was in the middle of dialling with a panicked expression, Sam seemed to...change.

His steps became lighter and he walked with an almost swagger, as if was confident and fantastic and he _knew_ it. His shoulder lifted and a smirk drew across his lips as the guard straightened up, unconsciously tucking her silky mahogany hair behind her ear and putting the phone down.

He leant across the desk, smirk cheeky as he flashed his badge.

"FBI. We're investigating a shooting that took place here a few minutes ago."

"Oh, I was just about-"

"We were in the area. We've been given reason to believe that there may be a device planted within the museum. I'm going to ask you to evacuate ASAP."

He smiled again, with a new light. It was softer, and comforting, as if he understood just how scary things were right now and he was here to reassure you that everything would be okay.

Silently she nodded, robotically taking the appropriate measures and walking away in a daze.

The moment she had left their line of sight, the persona trickled away like water sliding down glass. The facade faded back into the broken boy, and that wonderfully reassuring smile waned into an expressionless mask.

"How the hell are we going to find one _alien_ , when there are _hundreds_ of vehiclesin this damn place?!" Leo hollered.

Sam paused mid-step, then twisted ever so slightly around to look at Leo. Slowly, like lights on a Christmas tree sluggishly warming up, azure symbols shone to life on his arms and neck. His irises, and the circular scar on his left cheek burned blazing blue.

He released a breath slowly, eyes staring through the other humans, as if he was looking for something they couldn't see. Then he turned forward again and all but floated forward, guided by the energy coursing through him.

They followed cautiously, and Simmons pulled something out of his pocket that looked like a device the Ghostbusters would use.

"NBE detector." He shrugged at Miles' incredulous look, extending the antenna. "Made it out of a Walkman."

They drifted through the museum like ghosts, afraid to speak in case Sam's concentration broke, until Simmons' 'Walkman' gave a static-filled shriek when Sam stopped dead in front of a beautiful black Lockheed SR-71.

"Blackbird." Miles breathed, taking a few cautious steps towards it and leaping forward when Sam's knees buckled.

"I'm fine." He gasped out, covering his eyes with a shaking hand. "I'm fine."

Mikaela darted forward and under the Blackbird, eyes scanning for a familiar insignia, blood turning to ice when they caught the pointed silver emblem shining like a star.

"Shit" she breathed out, backing away slowly. "They're a Decepticon." She stumbled backwards, tripping over her own feet in her panic. "THEY'RE A DECEPTICON!"

Miles reacted like lightning. He hauled Sam back with one arm and grabbed Mikaela by the wrist with his other, dragging her behind him and scuttling backwards

"Behind the MiG now!" Simmons roared, grabbing Leo by the scruff of his neck. They sprinted in the opposite direction, Leo clambering over the glass barrier, Mikaela and Simmons holding onto the top of it to throw themselves over it, and Miles and Sam leaping it without breaking stride, as if it was a running hurdle. They skidded under another plane, Sam and Miles crouched like wild cats, ready to snap into action in a heartbeat.

The Decepticon shudder for a moment, before transforming...creakily?

Plates of metal moved jerkily, screws and bolts tinkled to the ground like pitter-patter of raindrops and the con groaned, stretching and smashing bits and pieces into place.

"What sort of hideous mausoleum is this?!" He roared grumpily, and for a split second the memory of waking his grandfather Witwicky when the man was napping in the sun blossomed in Sam's mind. "Answer me, pawns and knaves!" He swung, batting the yellow plane strung up on the roof out of his way. "Show yourselves or suffer my infinite wrath! You little spinal-cord-based organisms!"

He shook his-'W _as that a-?'_

"A walking stick." Miles muttered in disbelief, laughing a little in his surprise. He slowly straightened out of his crouch and, followed by the others, carefully made his way towards the pensioner plane. "Dude has a _walking stick._ "

"Bugger it!" The mech snarled when what looked like a satellite smashed into his face and he knocked it to the side, causing the humans to jump out of the way, hands holding their elbows in the cybertronain gesture of peace.

"Behold the eternal glory of Jetfire! Prepare for remote systems override!" Gesturing like a General, he marched towards the huge hanger doors, proud and purposeful.

"This guy did not age well." Leo whispered, half-hysterical. Sam shook off the exhaustion clinging to him and patted him on the shoulder as he stepped around him.  
"I don't think he's gonna hurt us." Mikaela admitted, smiling a little. Miles nodded along with her, as the echoing drums in his head had faded into nothing after the ambush, and had not returned since.

"I command these doors to open!"

"This is going to end badly." Sam sighed, wincing when a missile shot off in the opposite direction and soared over their heads, creating a very expensive sounding explosion behind them. He winced again when 'Jetfire' smashed the door open, grumbling as he did so.

"Damn these worthless parts. Itchy, wretched rust in my arse!"

As the humans raced out into the bright sunlight, Mikaela couldn't help but smile and the cornflower sky, scattered with puffs of cotton wool. Had it not been for the 'world ending' thing, it would have been a delightful day doing damn all but lying outside with music drifting through the soft breeze.

"The museum is going to be very angry!" Simmons shouted to Sam, yelping in surprise when he glanced back and found the three Autobots following them.

"-Right. I'm on a mission." Jetfire glanced around shrewdly, as if the unresponsive planes around him would provide him with answers.

Miles yelped, waving his hands in the air to catch the mech's attention. "Wait, wait, wait, wait!"

"What do you want?" The mech peered down at them, as if they were annoying ants that he could get rid off if he answered a quick question.

(First Command had a sudden, unexpected urge to laugh, as if somewhere in the vast universe, someone had assumed something very stupid about their humans.)

"I'm on a mission!" Jetfire waved away Miles' pleas "I'm a mercenary doom-bringer!"

"That's what you want to hear." Sam grumbled sarcastically, rolling his eyes when Jetfire turned his scarlet optics on him.

"What planet am I on?"

"Earth." He drawled, unmoving when the con crouched down to his level, leaning in close.

"Terrible name for a planet. Might as well call it 'Dirt'. Planet Dirt'." He snarled, as if the very name was revolting. "Tell me, is that robot civil war still going on. Who's winning?"

"The Decepticons." Miles supplied, the twisted expression on his face showing just how he felt about that.

Jetfire sniffed, wrinkling his nose. "Well, I changed sides to the Autobots." And for a split second, his optics flashed violent. "If Decepticons had their way, they'd destroy the whole universe!" He waved his walking stick at the sky, as if he was cursing their name, only to fall on his ass as his parachute deployed and sent him flying backwards. "Primus dammit! My boosters are fried."

As the mech got to his feet, Sam stepped forward, and let the Allspark wash through him. Jetfire froze, stumbled a few steps back, then knelt down to stare Sam in the eye. "Impossible." He outtaked, shuttering his optics in surprise. "The Allspark, bound in organic form..."

He clenched his servo into a fist and pressed it over his spark, bowing his head. "My spark is yours to command."

Sam bowed his head, fist clenched over his own heart. "I will command it with honour." He murmured in reply, before dropping to his knee and yanking his dagger out of the holster on his shin. Kneeling on the dirt, he carved the swirling symbols that had been dancing around his head. Jetifre let out a funny little noise, halfway between shock and hysteria.

Sam straightened and pointed to the symbols, following with his finger as he read.

"When Dawn alights the Dagger's Tip,  
Three Kings will reveal the Doorway."

Jetfire jerked back, eyes brightening with recognition and mouth falling open in surprise.

"You can speak-? Of course you can, you're the-Where did you-"

"I keep seeing it, that phrase over and over again. It's in my head, and Megatron wanted it, until he realised I was…well…" He gestured to his eyes, which had started to glow azure one more. "Him and someone called 'The Fallen'."

"The Fallen?! I know him!" Rage burned in the mech's optics and his servo's clenched themselves into fists. "He left me here to rust! The original Decepticon. He's terrible to work for." Jetfire muttered mutinously, derisive dripping from his voice. "It's always apocalypse, chaos, crisis."

He pointed back at Sam, optics wide and bright. "That message you relayed, it's a transcription. It was part of my mission!" He trembled slightly in excitement, snippets of sentences flying out unchecked. "The Fallen's search. I remember now, for the Dagger's Tip, and the key!"

Simmons raised his hands to get the distracted Cybertronian's attention. "Slow down. 'The key'? What key? What are you talking about?"

"No time to explain!" Jetfire interrupted, crouching down and gesturing for them to come closer quickly. Hesitantly, Sam walked forward, glancing at Miles from the corner of his eye. "Hold on, everybody!"

Bright white crackles of energy, which looked very much like lightning, appeared suddenly, enclosing the Cybertronians and Humans in a cocoon. Leo let out a yelp and Sam spun, backing away from the mech warily.

"Hey!" Jetfire snarled at him, freezing the redhead in place. "Stay still or you'll die!"

" _What?!"_

In one final flash of light, and with only the symbols carved in the dirt to say something had once been there, they were gone.


	47. Save Your Breath, It's Far From Over

Sam groaned as he slammed into the ground, curling into a tight ball to silence his screaming ribs and cradle his burnt hand. Miles echoed his groan beside him, whimpering a little as he tried to twist his burnt shoulder out of the broiling ground and pulled himself up into a sitting position by grabbing a handful of-

_Sand?!_

Both shot to their feet, weapons in hand and mouths falling open slightly, the sight of their surroundings momentarily throwing them off-course. Golden sand stretched ceaselessly as far as the eye could see, only interrupted by the rusty rock mountains which sprang up sporadically. The sun burned down on them, a single yellow circle in an endless cerulean ocean.

"What the fu-" Miles' whispered swear was cut off as a voice grinned behind them, notoriously upbeat.

"Well, that wasn't so bad! I just hope we're still on the right planet..." Jetfire mused, climbing to his feet with a orchestra of grinding and clanking.

Shaking off their surprise, the brothers sprinted over to the upturned bots and sighed in relief as they climbed to their feet, youngling still safely nestled in Bumblebee's servo, all unharmed.

"Hey, that freaking hurt!" Mudflap yelped, optics silted as he stared at Jetfire, pointing a digit at the humans. "You couldda killed them!"

Jetfire scoffed, waving a servo towards where Mikaela and Leo lay. "They're fine-"

"Oh, my God, such a beautiful face." Leo sighed, staring at Mikaela lovingly. She blinked at him blankly, mind still a little fuzzy from the teleportation. Leo sighed again, smiling as he added, "This would be a perfect moment, except you landed on my testicles. Please, get off."

Mikaela scrambled away with a squeaky shriek, reaching out as if to pat the groaning student's shoulder in comfort. She pulled back at the last second and stuffed her hands into her pockets, rocking back on her heels awkwardly as Leo rolled around, mourning his 'sensitive parts'.

Simmons stormed up to Jetfire, throwing his hands in the air as he snarled about...Vegas?

Sam shared an exasperated look with Miles before stumbling forward, hissing through his teeth as he attempted to straighten his fingers.

"Are you okay?" He numbered under his breath to Mikaela, assessing her quickly. "Hurt? Burnt?"

"What, burnt? Why would I be-shit!" She swore at the sight of his bloody hand and Miles's weeping shoulder. Bumblebee let out a distressed sigh and dropped Mikaela's First Aid kit at her feet, a single digit reaching out to carefully stroke Miles's cheek. The blonde smiled reassuringly back at him, yelping when Mikaela poured what felt like acid onto his shoulder and began covering it with sterile gauze.

"You're just lucky that I didn't get hurt!" Simmons still ranted, hands thrown in the air so many times it would have made Sam's Italian grandfather proud. "People could have gotten killed, okay? And if I would have gotten hurt, you would have heard-"

"Shut _up_!" Jetfire finally snarled, waving his stick in the air. "I told you I was opening a space bridge! It's the fastest way to travel to Egypt!". All he needed to do was pout, and a four year old he would be.

Sam paused for a second, teeth still biting down on the surgical tape he was securing his bandage with. Sharply, he ripped it off, whirling around to stare up at the pensioner incredulously.

"When did you... When did you tell us?!" He voice rose, taking on an almost hysterical note due to just how utterly _done_ he was with the combined events of the last few days. "You didn't tell us anything!" He started to gesture quickly and rapidly, a sign of stress he had picked up from his mother and maternal grandfather in the few short years he had with them. "You didn't tell us anything! Why are we in Egypt?!"

He descended into an all-but illegible flurry of his father's Irish and his mother's Italian, pacing as he slipped into his paternal grandmother's French, eyes flashing blue and good hand gripping his hair.

Jetfire, it seemed, had downloaded enough of Earth's languages to have a general idea of the...unflattering things that were being said.

"Don't you get snippy with me, fleshling! You were duly informed!"

Sam bit back a scream of frustration and gestured violently and distractedly at Miles, still muttering under his breath. Sighing, Miles smiled up at the mech, slipping into the role of the politician for once.

"Can we focus here? Can you tell us why we're in Egypt so we can all have a little bit of semblance of peace of mind?" He jerked his head toward Sam, who had slowed to a stop, distractedly scraping his fingernails across the front of his chest, as if clawing at a darkness or emptiness there. Jetfire frowned slightly at the familiar action, but shrugged it off as he beckoned them closer, and wove the story of old through the air once more.

"This planet was visited by our race once before, by our earliest ancestors, millennia ago..."

They listened with flat eyes as The Fallen ( _Abaddon, Abaddon " **Run as far as you want, whore, but I'll find you every time"**_ ) turned on his brothers and sister, forcing their suicide in his quest for the Matrix of Leadership, the Energon Harvester, and the power to rule the universe.

"So the Energon Harvester is on earth, right now? Yet we haven't found it?" Simmons frowned, highly sceptical. "If we can't find it, neither can he...right?"

Even as he trailed off, the answer was written over Jetfire's face

"The Fallen knows where it is and if he finds the tomb of the Primes, your world will be no more."

"Was he always live this? Power-mad?" Sam questioned softly, swallowing when Jetfire began to shake his head.

"According to history, no. He was once kind and just also but then...something changed. A darkness took root in his spark and consumed him."

Sam shut his eyes, theory confirmed. Abaddon, like every other lifetime, consumed a vessel, stealing it for his own through deceit and a silver tongue. He had whispered to The Fallen before his fall, making promises of glory and power until he gave his spark to him, and Abaddon scooped it out and seeped into the empty vessel left behind.

"Okay..." He breathed, clenching his good hand into a fist to stop the tremors,"Okay so how do we stop him?"

Jetfire shook his head, sighing wearily. "Only a Prime can defeat the Fallen."

The name drove another knife through his heart, violently forcing the breath from his lungs out.

"O-Optimus Prime?" He forced himself to say his name, which torn up his throat as if it was barbed wire.

"So, you've met a Prime? Is he alive, here on this planet?" Jetfire clamber for information eagerly, only to pull himself back at the broken, guilty shine in Sam's eyes.

"He sacrificed himself to save me." Never had he heard such revulsion aimed inward, poison practically poured from the human and what in earth would warrant that reaction-

He shuttered his optics, taking in the human's gauntness and the emotion shimmering in his eyes. The image of his sister's sparkling kneeling on the ground, shrieking hysterically as she rocked her bonded's empty frame, blossomed unbidden.

 _Oh_.

"So, he's dead."

The violent flinched proved his suspicions, and he softened his tone slightly. "Without a Prime, it's impossible. No one else could stop the Fallen."

Sam nodded, turning away and covering his eyes for a moment as the world spun. He slowly sank to one knee, the pressure and pain of everything which had happened in such a short time pressing down on him. He forced himself to breathe inwards for seven seconds and outwards for eleven to force off the panic attack, firmly ignoring the phantom hand gently cupping the back of his neck.

Orion was dead because of him.

He had sacrificed himself for him.

Abaddon is back and there is no way to stop him.

Everyone is going to die because he was going to use the Renascentia to wipe out the planet and they had no chance-

Wait.

What did he-

* * *

" _Trust me, Proteus!" Hunter exclaimed, pacing their room in his hurriedly thrown on nightclothes. Proteus sat up from where he had been watching his Entwined pace and reason aloud, pulling the blanket up to protect his modesty._

_"You know I do, my love. But, darling, it's the middle of the night. Are you sure you have to go now?"_

_"Yes!" He exclaimed, whirling around and distractedly rubbing at his chest. "I just-" he gripped his hair in frustration, eyes wild. "I have to go, now."_

_"Where too?"_

_"I don't know! I just...I'll know when I get there."_

_Proteus studied his Entwined for a long moment before nodding, rising fluidly and dropping the blanket. He slipped across the room, smirking slightly to himself at the feel of Hunter's eyes locked on him as he pulled on some clothes and called for his sister._

_"Okay, then let's go."_

_They wandered through the city, guided only by the pulling in Hunter's chest, which eventually led them to the Crystal Gardens. Proteus smiled happily, trailing a finger over one of the many white flowers the shone with a silver shimmer under the moonlight. He glanced back at Hunter, only to see him frozen, transfixed by the waterfall which cascaded into a crystal clear pool. At the sight of it heat burned in Proteus's cheeks, the memory of the last time he and Hunter had been here, under the moonlight, blossoming in his mind. He was drawn out of it by Hunter's voice, soft but firm._

_"I have to go in there."_

_"What?"_

_"It's-It's in there." He repeated, cocking his head slightly to the side. "The Guardians. They're telling me to go in there."_

_Gently Proteus placed a hand on his shoulder and urged him forward, after pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. "Then go, my love, and see what they want of you."_

_He nodded, pausing long enough to press a kiss against Proteus's hair, before slipping into the pool and disappearing under the rush of water._

_He reappeared what could have been moments or hours later, inky hair flat and clothes dripping. Proteus dashed forward, helping him out of the pool and onto a nearby rock, running his hand over him and warming his clothes to prevent him falling sick._

_It was only when Hunter tugged him onto his lap that he caught sight of the thing in this hands._

_It was a strange shape, like two curved daggers placed hilt to hilt with the ends curling either way, dark blue, and intricately formed._

_"What is it?" He gasped, tearing his eyes from it to meet Hunter's._

_"It's called 'Renascentia'-Rebirth. The Guardians...they said it was for The War, but not yet. Not for many, many lifetimes, but I must start training with in now. It's...it's meant to become a-a **part** of me, like your guardianship of the Hum is."_

_Proteus melted back into his embrace, staring at the object. It called to him, but not like it was the energy that flowed through the universe, which was his to guard. More as if...as if it was a balance to his Hum, the Sol to his Luna. They were two halves to one power, perfectly balanced and perfectly equal._

* * *

"The Renascentia." Sam's eyes snapped open and he lurched to his feet, pacing frenziedly and muttering, much to the worry of the others. "Rebirth. It can't just be called that for no reason. It's an energy source, we know that much but-"

He whirled around eyes wild as they stared into Jetfire's optics. "The Rana-Matrix of Leadership. It's an energy source, and it will be used to reactivate that machine, correct?"

Jetfire nodded carefully, as if the wrong action would shatter the human. "So, the same energy that's going be used to reactivate the machine, could...could it be used to heal Optimus's frame?"

Mikaela shared a worried look with Miles, taking a step towards her brother. "Sam?"

He ignored her, eyes burning into Jetfire. The mech fumbled for a moment, before shaking his head. "Even if it could, how would that help? It cannot breach the veil and bring spark back-"

"No," Sam agreed, exhaling shakily, "but I can."

Bee released a strangled "Sam?", his voice a mixture of hope and pain. The Human looked back at him, lips twitching into an imitation of a smile before turning back to Jetfire. He blinked up at the mech and let his irises shine, matching the azure symbols pushing through his tattoos. "Can it be done?"

"It was never designed for that purpose." Jetfire immediately regretted his first words, as the human all-but crumpled inwards while the bots and other humans sank into each other. "But-" Sam's head snapped up, eyes bright and burning with a tangle of emotion Jetfire could not begin to unwind, "it's an energy like no other."

Sam remained staring at Jetfire for a long minute before he turned around forcing his back to the group. One shaking hand reached up to cover his eyes and he swallowed, forcing down the lump in his throat as something burned in his chest, a fire that he thought forever extinguished.

Throwing out a shuddering breath, he spun around, chin raised definitely and shoulder straight and proud once more. He seemed to unfold as his eyes burned-not with the energy he was beginning to master, but with a fire that would not flicker out.

A fire which had the rest of the group straighten confidently and fill with a similar flame.

Faith.

"So, then how do you get us to the Matrix before the Decepticons get to me?" Everything seemed more...vibrant. Colours sharpened and the clawing hole in his heart lessened just a tad.

It wouldn't be there for much longer, because he was going to bring Orion back if it killed him.

"Follow your mind, your map, your symbols!" Jetfire enthused, surprisingly suddenly motivated by the fleshy. "What you carved in the sand, it's your clue! When dawn alights the Dagger's Tip, Three Kings will reveal the doorway! Find the doorway! Go now! Go! That was my mission. It's your mission before the Decepticons find me and find you.

* * *

Megatron knelt at the Fallen's servos, the mech inside the frame snarling as his master tipped his head up.

"You did so well for me." He purred, patting his helm condescendingly. Maximus roared, lunging froward as his optics turned violet once more.

" _You made me kill my brother!"_ he screamed, one clawed servo wrapping around his throat. "My brother, my _home!_ **_Why_**?!"

The Fallen waved his servo and Megatron took over once more, optics flickering and frame trembling as Maximus furtively wrestled for control. "Because it's _my turn_." The Fallen hissed as he straightened upright, optics blazing. "It's _my turn_ to win and _my turn_ to rule! Hunter took away _my right_ and I shall claim it _back!"_

"Hunter?" Maximus spat out, shaking away the odd feeling in his spark with his denta gritted as the _thing_ inside him tried to drag away his control. "Who the _pit_ is **_Hunter_**?! You had me kill my brother, _Orion!"_

The Fallen paused slightly, before throwing his head back and laughing, the sound echoing high and cold. "Oh my, I seemed to have forgotten. You do deserve to know your origins, Alfher."

Maximus jerked slightly, optics bright and confused. "What...what did you call me-"

He was cut off as The Fallen pressed a single digit to his helm and spat something in a twisted language, a mixture of spits and snarls and hissing which sent a shiver of fear down the mech's back. He opened his mouth to speak, only to be forced flat on his back as fire _exploded_ in his processor. Fire burned through every circuit, sending the mech into spasm's as he screamed. Vaguely he could hear The Fallen's icy laugh above him but it was ignored, the boiling of his processor and the mixture of words and places and face which forced themselves into it stealing his attention, his intake, his spark's pulses.

Eventually, after a lifetime, the pain ebbed until he was able to force himself to his knees with shaking servos. He coughed a few times until he was able to force himself to look The Fallen in the optics, his own bright with horror and fury.

"Welcome back, Alfher." The mech's lip-plate curled up at one side, crossing his arms as he stared down his nose at him. "It has been _too_ long."

"Abaddon." He breathed in reply, and the dethroned king smiled.

* * *

Simmons-much to the reluctance agreement of the other humans-sat in Bee's driver seat as they raced across the bustling town, as it would make more sense for him to be driving than anyone else. He snapped his phone shut and glanced over at Sam

"Okay, here's what my CIA contact says. Ancient Sumerians used to call the Gulf of Aqaba the 'Dagger's Tip'."

Understanding sparked in Sam's eyes. "That's the Dagger's Tip."

Simmons nodded along, gesturing to his phone which displayed a GPS. "It's part of the Red Sea. It divides Egypt and Jordan like the tip of a blade. 29.5 degrees north, 35 east."

"Okay," Sam nodded, voice dropping to a muted mummer as he reasoned with himself. "Okay, we have to get Orion to the Dagger's Tip."

"How are you gonna get him halfway around the world?" Simmons snapped, eyebrows at his hairline as they all clambered out of Bee.

Sam smirked. "I'm gonna make a call."

* * *

"NEST departure, 2100 hours."

William Lennox's lip curled as he watched the bustle, teeth grinding together. Epps stood at his right as usual, lips pressed tightly together as his eyes fell on the others that had become his brothers in arms, if not brothers through blood.

Ironhide and Arial had covered Orion's frame with a tarp to give him a some semblance of dignity, while a familiar mixture of Rangers, soldiers and Rebels circled him. They stood at Parade Rest, facing towards the bustling base as if to shield the mech from the curious stares he gained.

"So, we're shipping him back to base." Epps' voice may have been light to other ears, but Will had know him long enough to here the undertone of disgust and fury.

"This is such a mistake." he nodded, eyes briefly closing before snapping open when his name was called.

"Major Lennox, phone call!"

Sharing a look with Epps, he hurried over to the phone and quickly lifted it "This is Lennox"

"Lennox,"

_'I know the voice that's-'_

His vision bled red at the memory of Bumblebee screaming while the grey haired man watched on, apathetic. "What the _fuck_ do you-"

"I'm with the kid. The _**kid**_. You know, the one with the mind like lightning, right?"

His hand tightened on the receiver so much so it protested loudly. "If you _touch_ _**one damn hair**_ on his head-"

"No shut up!" Simmons snapped, hurrying on before Will could snarl again. "We need the truck. The truck-what? Does that really-?! Jesus fine! We need the damn Peterbilt, happy kid?!" He snarled at someone at the other end of the phone and the tension flew from Will's shoulders.

Not only was that the safe word-damn, Orion's face had been funny when that was decided-but only _Sam_ would demand that they used the correct type of alt-mode for his-

"We got a possible resurrection going on over here."

"Will?" Epps whispered, touching his brother's shoulder at the Maj-Captain's suddenly shocking pallor. "Man, are you okay?"

"You're not gonna believe where we are. Code Tut, as in King Tutankhamen."

"Get me a pen." Will whispered faintly, before shaking it off. "Get me a damn pen!"

"Back of a $1 bill. Coordinates for airdrop, 29.5 north, 34.88 east. Write it down. Write it-" Simmons suddenly broke off with a mumbled swear and the phone line crackled for a moment. "Oh, my God. I got to go. Okay. Heat comes."

Will stared at the piece of paper for a moment before he yanked his phone out of his pocket, cursing as he tried to find his damn Maps.

"Will, what the fuck is going on?" Epps hissed, shaking the captain's shoulder.

"Sam is trying to bring Orion back."

Epps jerked like he had been burned, the glanced around covertly to ensure no one overheard. "What?!" He hissed as he watched Will input the coordinates. "Wait, where the hell is-"

"Tip of the Red Sea. Gulf of Aqaba."

"Egypt?!" Epps stared first at Will then at the phone, eyes wide and a smile of incredibility stretching across his face. "Are you serious?"

Someone coughed from behind them and they spun to see Mirage and Shadow standing behind them, subtly nodding over to where Galloway and his loyal subjects mooched. "Sir."

The two Rangers nodded at them in thanks and dropped their voices, ducking down their heads to make it look like they were discussing a form on the table.

"Even if we could figure out a way" Epps muttered, eyes on Galloway, "to get BossBot over there, how is Sam supposed to bring him back to life? He already tried the AllSpark and that didn't work!"

"Look, I don't know," Will shrugged and admitted, juxtaposing with his calm and confident eyes, "but we got to trust him."

Epps studied him for half a second before nodding, only to jerk a thumb towards Galloway.

"How are we going to get rid of him?"

Will's answering grin was nothing short of terrifying.

"Ah, leave that to me."

* * *

"Dammit, Simmons!" Sam snarled as they pulled away from the passport check, fingers curling and eyes livid. "Are you out of your goddamn mind?!"

"Look, it's fine, it's sorted-"

" _There was a goddamn camera behind him!"_ He snapped, barring his teeth, "And you forced my damn face into it!"

Simmons froze, before swallowing and releasing a whispered "Shit."

* * *

Far above their heads, a large Decepticon pulled back it's tentacles from where they had infiltrated every inch of the satellite. His violet optics changed back into the red ones that kept him safe, and he hissed,

"Decepticons, boy's location detected."

He would destroy the one that designed the death of the mech who was all but his brother, and the youngling that was an almost-nephew.

Soundwave would tear apart Samuel Witwicky, piece by piece

* * *

Sam knelt down in one of the crumbling rooms they had made camp, grabbing the water bottle Miles had passed to him with an understanding smile. He cleansed his hands with salt water, then lit the tall candle Miles also provided. Slowly, he raised his hands upward, palms outwards as he whispered,

"Hail, Ares, Enyalios, Polemos, Andreiphontes, or whatever name you want to be known by, if the wine I poured for you two nights ago pleased you, I ask you to look upon my brothers and sisters favourably in the battle that is to come. Praise you, leader of the righteous men, Saviour of cities and defender of Olympus."

He repeated the process a few more times, praying to each of the twelve Olympians in turn until the candle finally flickered out. Sam dropped his hands and rocked back on his heels, scrubbing a hand across his face as he made his way back to where the youngling was curled up on Sam's jacket, snoozing softly. Smiling, the human carefully lifted him to cradle him to his chest as he slipped down against the wall, knees propped up in front of him. His eyes slipped closed, only to snap open moments later when a slight scuffled came from the doorless doorway.

"Who's there?"

Two heads appeared in the doorway, boyish faces nervous as they stared at the human. "Skids? Mudflap? What's wrong, has something happened?" Sam started to get to his feet, dagger already in one hand and carefully moving to cradle the sparkling in deep recharge on his lap.

"No!" Skids exclaimed, anxiously peering through his lime green fringe. Beside him, Mudflap shuffled his feet nervously, rubbing the freckled bridge of his nose. "We...uh..."

"Bad recharge." Mudflap mumbled, dropping his head so his vibrant orange hair shadowed his face. Sam's face softened, eyes lighting with understanding. He sat back down again, moving the sparkling back onto his lap and leaning back against the wall.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Both boys shook their head, but sniffed, before shuffling in with their eyes downcast. They fumbled for a minute, before splitting up to tuck themselves into either side of Sam, faces pressed into his neck and arms loosely around his waist. Sam paused for a second, before leaning forward and grabbing a smaller candle out of his bag, quickly lighting it. Letting some hot wax drip onto the floor, he stuck the candle's base into it, leaving it upright. Then, he leaned back again, wrapping his arms around both boys.

"When I had a nightmare, your older brother would always wake me, then light the candle on one of our bedside lockers." It slipped out without his permission, low and tinged with both adoration and pain. Skids and Mudflap curled in closer, flicking their eyes up to look at Sam. He smiled softly at them, eyes going back to the flickering flame. "He told me that the flame would burn away the bad dream and only leave the good. Then, he'd ask me about the dream and if I could talk about it, I'd tell him"

"What about if you didn't?" Mudflap whispered, eyes wide.

"Then he'd tell me something good, like a nice memory and then we'd go back to sleep."

"Did you have another bad dream?" Skids whispered, sniffling a little.

Sam smiled at him again, voice strong with conviction.

"Never."

Both Skids and Mudflap hiccuped a sob, sniffling shakily until a waterfall of words spilled out. "Orion was got hurt-"

"-and he was offlining-"

"-and it was our fault-"

"-because we snuck into another mission like we did in Bejing-"

"-and he said he wished he never found us-" At that, both of them tumbled into tears, shoulders shaking. Sam sighed softly, tightening his arms around them. "It okay." He soothed, running his fingers through their hair.

"It's just a dream little ones. It wasn't real. Your brother loves you more than there are stars in the sky, and finding you that days was one of the brightest moments of his life."

"How do you know?" Mudflap sniffed, echoed by Skids' nod.

"Because the day he found out you two were coming he couldn't stop smiling. He bounced about like a sparkling who had just tried their first Energon Goodie."

"Really?" The twins stared up at him with wide, wet eyes.

Sam nodded with a smile, swallowing the lump in his throat that had formed at the memory. "And every time he called me when I was at collage, he talked about you and what you had been doing and how well your training and schooling has been coming along. He was so, so proud of you both." Fresh tears came to their eyes at that, but accompanied by watery smiles.

The twins fumbled for a moment, before Mudflap spoke up "Can...can you tell us something about Orion? Something nice?"

Sam nodded with a smile, glancing up at the constellation of Orion through the collapsed roof. "Do you see those three stars?" He pointed at them, waiting until they nodded before continuing. "That's called Orion's Belt." Both boys perked up, eyes wide. Smiling, Sam continued. "On our anniversary in October, Orion brought me outside in the middle of the night, with an entire picnic set out. Then, he pointed at that star right in the centre of the constellation." Sam pointed again, gesturing to the star in the very centre of Orion's chest. "That star used to be called Orion Omega."

"Used to?" Skids piped up, blinking curiously.

"He renamed it for me. That star is now called Samuel James Witwicky, because according to Orion, that is where I belonged. Right in the middle of Orion's chest; right in his spark."

"That's so embarrassing!" Skids whined, but the smile on his face destroyed any negative connotations. Sam grinned back at him, shaking his head.

"No, it was romantic."

"Why is it called Orion too?" Mudflap piped up, staring at the stars. "It's just a bunch of dots."

Sam launched into retelling Orion and Artemis's story, finally waving a hand at the three stars. "And, see those Pyramids?" The twins nodded, eyes wide "Well, they were built by the three kings of Giz-"

"Sam?" Skids nudged the human who was frozen, arm still stretched out, pointing to the three stars. "Are you okay?"

"'Three Kings'" he breathed, before shaking his head. "Quickly, up, up!"

They all scrambled to their feet as Sam threw his bag onto his shoulder, manoeuvring the youngling until he slept in the crook of Sam's other arm.

"Miles! Simmons!"

Simmons and Leo started awake, leaping back from where they had fallen asleep on each other. Miles was on his feet with his gun already out, Bumblebee and Mikaela in similar stances.

"Sam? What's going-"

"Look!" He pointed to the stars, glancing monumentality at Leo. "Listen, astronomy class, page 47. Remember the class?"

"Yes." Leo bit, arms crossed "but we only got up to page 35 before we were attacked by The Terminator, remember Sam?"

He threw it off like water down a duck's back, turning his attention back to the others. "You see those three stars? See how the last one touches the horizon? It's Orion's Belt, but it's also called the 'Three Kings'."

Mikaela gasped, mouthing forming a little 'o' in understanding. Sam nodded at her, continuing. "And the reason for that is the three Egyptian kings who built the pyramids of Giza built them to mirror those stars. It's an arrow staring us straight in the face!"

Simmons nodded, clapping a hand on Sam's shoulder. "They all point due east, towards Jordan. The mountains of Petra."


	48. Fate Is Coming, Time To Go

Simmons glanced over at Sam from Bumblebee's passenger seat, heavy eyes taking in his pseudo-nephew's form in the still silence that accompanied the sleeping quartet in the backseat.

Sam was in Bumblebee's driving seat, controlling the mech like a normal car as the mech drifted in recharge, a symbol of trust only Orion had bestowed on him so strong it had nearly blown the boy back. One hand rested lightly on the wheel, the other against the corner of his forehead as his elbow tucked into the crook of the window. He stared out at the sea of endless sand unseeingly, touching the pendent hid under his shirt every now and then.

 _'He's all grown up'_ , Simmons thought with a touch of bitterness. The angry and scared fourteen year old was gone, as was the torn Unspeakable who snapped and snarled. A calm, confident young man had taken their place, and though pain and loss still clung and shone on him like cobwebs on a frosty morning, there was an unmistakable shine of hope in his eyes.

It wasn't until Sam's eyes bore into his own did he realised he had touched his hair, curling a coil of copper his finger. He flinched back like he was branded, knuckles whitening as his fingers curled inward.

The air between the two seemed to thicken suddenly as Sam's shoulders tightened and his fingers spasmed once, then re-tightened around Bee's steering wheel. Simmons played with his fingers for a few moments before blurting out "I'm sorry!"

Sam's mouth fell open as his shock cracked his cool facade, only to snap shut again with an audible click while in the back, unseen, Miles' eyes snapped open.

"I'm sorry how I reacted when I saw you with the NBEs." Simmons barrelled on, seizing advantage of Sam's momentary speechlessness. "I'm sorry how violent I was and I'm sorry how I treated you and Miles." He shook his head, rubbing his sweaty palms on his trousers and hunching his shoulders. "I mean you were dead and suddenly you were there and there were NBEs everywhere and you were standing beside a Camaro and I just-"

Miles frowned at the heavy emphasis on Bee's Alt's make even as the mech in question's dash lit up. The blonde in the back leaned forward, mouth open-

"-Autobots."

Simmons narrowed his eyes at the side of Sam's face as the boy had yet again returned to staring out the windscreen. "They are ' _autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron_.'" The corner of Sam's mouth quirked up as his voice deepened, as if he was mimicking something that had been said many times by someone held very close to his heart. "But you can call them Autobots for short." He added, a trace of humor lingering like he was telliing some sort of inside joke. "Though they prefer their designations-names-to 'Autobot' or 'Hey, you with the saw".

"One time, Sam." Mikaela mumbled sleepily, burrowing further into Miles' side. "It was one time. There was smoke and-and...guns..."

Sam snorted as Mikaela slipped back into slumber, shaking his head slightly, then whipped back into cool severity. "It's not just me you have to apologize to."

Swallowing, Seymour nodded silently, paling at Sam's next words. "And if you ever touch Bee again, or any other member of my family or friends, I'll gut you and burn you myself, understand?"

There was no kindness in Sam's eyes; no hint of hesitation nor degree of discord. He would calmly destroy any threat to those who he claimed as his own. And Simmons could do nothing but smile. "You look so much like your mother." Simmons whispered, shaking his head slowly. "And you have her heart, but your father's loyalty."

Sam flinched, hand tightening on Bee's steering wheel. He nodded once, old ghosts tightening his throat for a moment. Simmons took a breath, glancing down at his own hands awkwardly. "They'd be very proud of you."

Sam snorted, lip curling up in the bitter, mocking smile his younger self had perfected for responding to Tom and Fault Line's cruelty. "I very much doubt that."

"You don't know that-"

"I have done nothing for them to be proud of." He closed his eyes for a brief moment, swallowing harshly as he continued, voice horribly listless and detached. "I've lied and I've stole; I've cheated and I've killed. I manipulate and I claim things I have no right to."

His hand gripped the pendent around his neck tightly and then he forced himself to let go, swearing and running his fingers through already unruly hair. "A few good deeds do not wash away the sins of a lifetime."

"You're only nineteen, kid." Simmons whispered, grasping Sam's shoulder tightly. "You've still got a hell of a long way to go."

The responding laugh was twisted and dark, and mirrored the look in Sam's eyes and he darted a glance at Simmons. "You and I both know that's not true. I've got a few years left, if I'm very lucky. Witwicky curse, innit?" He flashed a broken smile. "Live long enough to have a kid then drop a few years later?"

"You shouldn't have that problem." It was weak, but Simmon's joke drew a bark of laughter anyway.

"I've got a kid-I'm already living on borrowed time."

Before Simmons could process what had just been said, Sam's spine snapped straight and he glanced in Bee's mirror.

"-Miles, wake up. We're here." Sam called out, through up a wall of ice between himself and world once more.

* * *

Orion lay at the back of the aircraft, watched over by the holoforms of Sunstreaker, Sideswipe and Bluestreak. Though they physically traveled in the other aircraft, they had demanded to stand guard over their fallen Prime, and not even Galloway had been able to turn them. The three of them huddled together, throwing Lennox a loaded look. The Captain nodded, glancing at his watch and smirking for a second before he schooled his face back into cool indifference just as the intercom announced

"We've had an engine malfunction. We're gonna have to divert to SOCCENT."

Galloway's head snapped up as Will slipped into his role as he leaned forward. "Whaaaaaat?" He glanced at Galloway, puzzlement clear on his face. Around him, his fellow NEST soldiers smirked for a split second while dark amusement glittered in the holoforms' eyes.

"Flight master, let's lighten the load and prepare for bailout."

"Bailout?" Galloway stuttered, panic dawning on his face. "Bailout? Bailout? Bailout?"

Will heaved himself to his feet with theatrical sigh, prompting the others around him to do likewise. "All right, team, grab your chutes!"

Galloway followed him like a puppy, yanking at the material of his shirt "Bailout like bailout?"

Biting back a snort, Lennox helped him into his parachuting gear a touch more brusquely than usual. "You familiar with the standard MC-4?"

"Of course not!" Galloway snarled, slightly hysterical as he repeatedly fixed his glasses, hand trembling like a butterfly's wing. "I've never jumped out of a perfectly good airplane before! Wait a minute, is this really happening?"

Epps spun around, biting back a grin at his Captain's curt "Yeah" as he continued to fix the Liaison's straps. Galloway glanced around the plane, picking up at the humorous atmosphere the other passengers where excreting.

"Wait a minute. Wait a minute." He blinked at Lennox, lips curling as he pointed shakily "You're behind this, aren't you?"

Lennox twisted his face into a mixture of condescension and incredibility "What are you talking about? You heard the pilot. These guys don't mess around." he explained to Galloway as if he was a particularity slow child. "This is just standard procedure. I'm just _following orders_ to the _**letter**_."

He yanked the final straps hard, sending Galloway up onto his tiptoes with a high pitched yelp as he leaned in, smirking. "Isn't that what you said?"

The Liaison barred his teeth at him, all-but shaking with fury. "You just signed a death warrant on your career, Major."

The aircraft lurched suddenly to the side, cutting him off as it creaked and shuddered in protest. Galloway grabbed Lennox's arm in a vice, staring at the shuddering equipment in horror. "What was that? What was that?"

Lennoz glanced around him, and his expression of exaggerated worry and insecurity made Galloway cling onto him all the tighter. "That's not good. Come on. Right this way!"

He all but dragged the protesting man through his soldiers, who busied themselves with checking their guns to avoid their humour being detected.

There was no risk of that, really, due to the overwhelming horror which was beginning to cloud Galloway's mind at the sight of the cargo door descending into nothing but cloud and cornflower. He dug his heels in as Lennox dragged him towards the inner edge of the door. "I can't jump out of an airplane!" He cried hysterically, trying to escape Lennox's firm hold like an uncooperative toddler "I have an ulcer! No, no."

"Come on. It's okay." Lennox soothed, spinning him around so his back was to the sky. "Come here! Come here."

"Why aren't you wearing your chute?" Galloway snapped at him, eyes almost bulging out of his head.

"Because I have to secure the VIPs first." Lennox smiled at him, a touch of patronisation colouring his voice. "Okay, I want you to listen very carefully and memorise everything that I say."

Galloway, gripping his thinning hair, nodded, only to pale dramatically as instructions were fired at him faster than a blink.

"Each chute has a GPS tracker so you can be found by Search and Rescue. Right next to that's a fabric webbing called a bridle, which holds the pin that keeps the main container closed. Okay, are you listening?"

"I can't hear what..." Galloway stuttered and stumbled, glancing back and forth between the sky and Lennox's unimpressed faced. Sighing, the Captain slapped his across the face, snapping the Liaison out of his panic. "Stop that!"

He didn't actually want the man to die due to his panic.

"All right, when the pilot chute inflates into the air, it pulls the pin and opens the main." He pointed to each easy to reach handle. "Red's your backup, blue's your primary. I want you to pull the blue." he mimed yanking the handle, nodding and smiling at Galloway. "I need you to pull it really hard!"

Galloway yanked the blue handle, looking into Lennox's aghast face expectedly. "Not now, we're on the plane, you dumb-ass!"

Galloway stared at the handle for a second, then back into Lennox's face. "What no-oooooooow?!" He yelped as he was sucked out of the aircraft, disappearing into the clouds.

Smirking, Lennox made his was back to his men. The Rangers and Holoforms were openly smirking, even the happy-go-lucky Bluestreak had an uncharacteristically vindicated smirk on his face.

"He say good-bye?" Epps enquired, mirth dancing in his dark eyes.  
Lennox schooled his expression into faux-heartbreak as he checked his gun. "No, he didn't even say good-bye."

* * *

Miles secured his hair with an elastic tie, grumbling about getting its shoulder brushing length cut as he helped Mikaela over a particularly rough piece of rock as they stumbled across the desert. The sun beat down ceaselessly as they searched for something they had never seen before. Sam took lead, hair tied back from his face in a bandanna tore from scrap material. Eagle eyes combed the desolated land for something; anything; the barest hint that something was amiss-

He jerked to a stop, Simmons only just stopping at the last second to avoid slamming into his back at they stared up at the remains of the ancient building. Almost at once, the Whisperings started in the back of his head once more

" _When Dawn Alights the Dagger's Tip,  
Three Kings will revel the doorway."_

_"Our First. Our Champion."_

_"Come, Proteus, Samuel, The First, Champion. Come, enter_."

"This is it." Sam sighed, trembling fingers touching his lips for a moment. "This way."

"Why?" Leo groused, shaking the sand out of his hair as they climbed into the large empty room, Skids and Mudflap waiting with the sparkling outside in Alt mode. "'Cause we're trusting Grandpa Blackbird who doesn't even know what planet he's on?"

"In his defence, this is the biggest doorway I've ever seen in my entire life." Simmons cut in, seeing the flash of fear in Sam's eyes before he schooled it back into a blank expression, lips tight.

"Okay. Well, that's great. Let me do a quick search, all right?" Leo spun around, hands thrown out mockingly. "Nope. Ever cross your mind, guys, that archeologists have been here before? There's nothing here!"

Leo's incredibility grew when Sam and Miles both pressed their ear against one of the walls, tapping it at random points.

"It's not over." Sam mummered, frowning as he moved to the next one and knocked slightly higher.

"It is over. It's done!" Leo repeated, voice raise to a shout before he was cut off by Miles cry of victory.

Sam darted to his side, pressing his ear against the wall in tiny to hear a tiny, muffled, echo. He froze in place, staring at Miles with a such an intense mixture of hope and terror his brother found himself at a loss, unable to comfort him in any way other than grasping him by the shoulder tightly. Letting go, he reached into his endless backpack and whipped around, smearing a small piece of red putty against the wall. Pressing it firmly and yanking Sam away as he did so, Miles dragged them both to the other side of the room and behind Bee with the other humans before it bled green, then exploded quietly. Simmons let out a strangled groan, shielding his eyes.

"Now we are definitely going to end up in an Egyptian prison."

The two Rebels scrambled over to the smoking wall, pulling the ancient plaster away until Sam let out a choked, gut-wrenching cry at the sight of twisted, ancient, metal. He traced the symbols with a trembling finger and closed his eyes briefly to compose himself.

"This is it." He almost didn't recognise his own voice-strangled and choked with dozens of conflicting emotions which made his head spin.

"Bee?" Miles called out, smiling up at him as he carefully pulled Sam away again. "Bee! Shoot it."

His Chosen chirped in reply, and once all the humans were a safe distance away, fired. Almost immediately, he slipped into Alt-mode and his holo burst into light, cautiously following his Prime's and brother's Chosen towards the newborn gaping hole in the primeval plaster.

Slowly, Sam climbed through the make-shift tunnel, jerking to a halt as his eyes adjusted to the light Simmons' and Miles' torches threw off. In a tight protective circle, the Primes stood, eternally preserved protecting the matrix.

"The Primes."

"The Guardians."

The names slipped through Bumblebee and Sam's lips as one as both crashed onto one knee, heads bowed, fists pressed over their hearts and sparks as a string of prayers were torn from them. Bumblebee whispered in twisting Cybertronian, prayers Orion had taught him in both Common and Prime. Sam choked in a language Miles had never heard before- a dancing, soaring language that was akin to the flight of a bird or the notes of a piano-yet it tickled the back of his neck and pulled at his heart, as if it was something that had been forgotten and was struggling through murky waters to push to the surface.

Leo whistled behind the blonde, kicking a rock absently. He stared around him, taking in the ancient aliens with awed eyes. He leant back, cupping his mouth with his hands.

"Yo! Y- _ow_!"

Mikaela wrenched his ear sharply, cutting off his second holler. "Shut your goddamn mouth!" She hissed, twisting his ear and promoting another yelp. "Show some respect for their sacrifice! They are the apostles to Sam and Bee!"

"I'm an atheist-sorry." Leo cut himself short before the bronze goddess actually did yank his ear off.

Miles shot her an approving look, and after sharing a loaded one with Simmons, slowly moved forward to clasp both Bee and Sam's shoulders. In sync their heads shot up, staring at Miles with twin lost expressions. He squeezed their shoulders with a soft smile, his regret reflected in their eyes.

"We have to keep going."

Shuddering, they both nodded and clamoured to their feet, though stood side by side as they made their way towards the Matrix without a breath between them. Carefully, the small group circled the timeless talisman which seemed to burn blue within, as if a tiny spark lazily pulsed as it waited to be found. Sam's finger curled for a moment, Hunter's overwhelmed face as he cradled the Renascentia blossoming before him. He closed his eyes and shook away the vision, only to find eight staring back at him with unconcealed anticipation.

"What?"

Miles blinked at him, eyes dating to the Matrix and back again. Instantly Sam stepped back, eyes locked on the Matrix as if it would crumble before his eyes.

"Fuck no. Not me."

"It's the Matrix of _Leadership_ , Sam." Mikaela stressed, waving a hand at him. "You're the only one who fits the job description."

"Miles-"

"The fuck are you dragging me into this." Miles shot back, taking a step back. "I make sure the things you want done are fully enforced. I'm your brawn, your back up, but you're the one who gives the order. _You're_ the leader, bro."

"I can't." Sam shook his head, backing away further. "Only those who are worthy can hold it or it'll-I can't hold it."

Bumblebee touched Sam's arm, holding on even when he flinched. "Sam-"

"No, Bee! I can't!" He finally tore his eyes from the Matrix to meet Bee's, anguished and anger. "I'm not worthy, okay? I've killed-"

"-Murderers, assassins and drug dealers." Miles coughed, smiling at Sam's glare.

"-I've done stupid shit-"

"-While clinically depressed." Mikaela interjected, mimicking Miles' smile.

"-I've lied-"

"-To protect others and yourself-" Simmons grinned, sobering when Sam let out a frustrated cry.

" _ **I can't!"**_ He roared, eyes blazing and knuckles white. The others took a shocked step back, caught off guard by the vehemence in Sam's words. "The Matrix is to be held only by who is pure of spark and leads with honour! My soul was tainted a long time ago." He continued in a hiss. "I am not worthy and I never will be!" Sam twisted, staring into Bee's eyes desperately. "This is Orion's only chance, Bee. We can't risk-"

"-I have faith in you." Bee replied calmly, never leaving Sam's gaze even when the human spat a bitter laugh.

"You're willing to risk Orion's life on faith?"

"I'm willing to risk it on you." Sam swallowed, hand spasming into a fist. "I trust you. Orion trusts you. Our family trusts you."

The Holo slowly took Sam's hands and guided them towards the Matrix, manipulating them to hover less than an inch away from cupping it. He cupped Sam's neck with one hand, squeezing lightly. "You're the boy who risked his life to save our children. Who risked his own rather than let Orion die. You pulled back Jazz, got shot for Jolt and stood by our Prime's side through fire and Energon. We trust you, Sam. For once, trust yourself."

Sam was a statue, frozen and silent. He continued to stare at the Matrix like he was waiting for it to give him some sort of an answer. It was only when he felt a phantom touch on his shoulder did he jerk into movement and lift the Matrix-as if he was afraid his nerve would leave him if he went too slow.

Despite lying in darkness for thousands of years, it felt curiously warm, as if it had just been set down. It hummed in his hands, almost like it was content as its 'spark' softly pulsed.

 _'Our Champion,_ ' the Whisperings sighed happily, ' _Go and bring home your Prime, our worthy Champion'_ they softly ordered, before melting away back into silence.

Sam stared at the Matrix in awe for a few heartbeats, only blinking away when Bee nudged hi playfully. "Told you so." He grinned, smile sunny and bright.  
Sam nodded slowly, glancing back at the Matrix of Leadership and laughing softly. "Yeah. Guess you did."  
He felt...lighter. Brighter. Like freshly washed clothes on May Day. He was **_worthy_**.

He was yanked out of his awe by a familiar sound rushing over their heads. Instinctively they raced out of the tomb and into the blinding sunlight, Leo scampering behind them.

"What was that?!" The student hollered, gazing up at the sky as a mouse looks for hawks. "More aliens?!"

"US Air Force!" Simmons cried, grinning as Miles whooped "C-17s!"

Leo's confused "What's a C-17?" Went unnoticed.

After judging roughly where it seemed the US was setting up base-a town a couple of Klicks off- Simmons wandered back to where Sam was leaning against Bee's Alt, conversing softly with Mikaela as a NB-Sparkling played with the sand by his feet. Casually, he stood next to him, waiting until Mikaela went off to get water after pressing a kiss to Sam's cheek to speak.

"You think you can bring him back to life with that magical doohickey?"

Sam dropped his gaze to the Matrix once more, softly tracing some of the ancient glyphs on it with his finger before lifting his head to meet Seymour's gaze. Slowly, a confident smile pulled across his lips and his eyes blazed as he firmly answered.

"Absolutely. Let's go"


	49. A Soldier I Will Be

"Jason!" Tom embraced Fault Line tightly, clapping his adoptive son on the back. "How was the mission, son?"

"It went well, father." The dark haired Unspeakable smiled softly as he took a seat in front of his father's large oak desk. He gazed up at the sweeping world map stretching out across the wall in front of him, flitting his eyes across the many differently coloured pins piercing different countries. "The threat has again been neutralised-for now."

Tom nodded slowly, carefully picking up a pin to mark off another degraded threat to the world. He played with it gently, carefully choosing his words.

"How do you feel, son?"

Jason flickered another smile, eyes hooded. "I feel...lighter, father. As if I have just awoken from a deep slumber."

Tom made a noise of agreement as he pulled out a red pin and carefully slipped the yellow one in place. "And your grief? It still tears you?"

Jason visibly hesitated, fumbling for a moment before he spoke. "Esmeralda's death still pains me. My heart and soul still beg for her. But it is not the fiery burn that scorched my mind and nerves. It is now an ache that settles in my heart and bones."

Tom nodded softly as he poured out two glasses of scotch, one neat, one over ice. He handed the second to his son, eyeing him over the rim of his own glass. After he had taken a few sips, he softly wondered, "Surely you still want her murderer brought to justice?"

Jason's head snapped up, blinking up at his father in surprise. "Of course!" He swirled his glass around and took another sip, noting that the amber drink had become slightly diluted due to the melting of the ice.

"And surely you want to do to her murder what was done to her."

Young, tanned fingers clenched around the gradually warming glass as the gaping wound in Esme's chest burned under his eyelids. "Of course." He bit, as his head began to swim with the crimson that still seemed to cling to his hands even now. He licked his lips, suddenly thirsty as his mouth felt painted with salt.

"It's exactly what he deserves, correct? He deserves to suffer as she did."

"Yes." He rasped, minute trembles clawing up his legs and arms. Tom leaned forward, guiding the scotch back up to his mouth.

"Samuel must suffer as she did."

He drew short, the memory of Sam pressing down on Esme's wound as he screamed into the crackling PADD for ' _backup, medical assistance, anything at all just get here Jason **please**_ ' clawing through the fire. More memory snippets followed-a little redhead drawing with his tongue poked out. A little boy in a somber suit clinging tightly to his hand as two flower-covered Burning Boats were pushed out onto a shimmering lake, set aflame by dozens of silent archers. A young man lounging across the lap of an older raven haired man in a smokey bar, whispering into his neck with a sly smile as his embracer chuckled softly and looked at him as if he had realigned the stars just to make him smile.

He knew he had looked at Esme like that, and his gut twisted at the thought of putting even this unknown man through the inferno he endured.

"I'm.. I'm not-"

"He went offline, remember son?" Tom leaned forward, eyes burning feverishly. "He turned off his PADD. Had he not, we would have heard what was happening and saved our dear Esme."

Jason swallowed harshly, fire beginning to burn away the memories as quickly as they came. "You're right."

"If he had just stuck to the rules, Esme would still be here." Tom crooned, covering Jason's shaking hand with his own. His son nodded as his heart rate went through the roof, adrenalin pumping through his veins. "You would still be together."

Jason drained the last drops of his scotch as Tom lent forward, mouth at his ear as he devastatingly whispered,

"You would be a father."

Fault Line slammed the empty glass down on the table, cracking it as he pushed his chair up and shot to his feet. "He took everything from me." He hissed, eyes shinning. Tom nodded, the picture of devastation as he gazed up at his son. "He deserves to be gutted". He twisted in a swirl of black and stormed out the door, furiously scrubbing weakness from his eyes.

The door clicked shut, and Tom waited for a long moment before lifting out a recorder from his desk drawer.

"Subject zero has received another dose of Adrenocorticotropic-13 after it has become clear that a standard 50cc frozen dose remains in the system for only four weeks at a time. They have shown visible signs of rage including increased heart rate, trembling, creating violent imagery and the inability to process rational thought. Since their first introduction to the serum 64 months ago, they have shown no sign of degenerating side effects bar sever mood swings and occasional fits of delirium. This experiment will be monitored and continued until it becomes clear if the serum can eradicate all rational thought and emotional attachments via the test subject's destruction of the focus of their synthesised rage."

* * *

Will swallowed a lump in his throat as Optimus's frame slid out of the plane and dropped, and after throwing a glance over to the rest of his team, he sprinted and leapt out of the aircraft. The other Rangers quickly followed their Captain and their Prime, leaping out into nothing and powered only by their loyalty.

In the other aircraft, Ironhide pulled himself out from under the netting, stretching kinks out of his frame. "You best get me off this plane" he snarled as he made his way towards the exit, hesitating momentarily as Optimus' lax frame was carefully pushed out of the other. He was hit by a sudden urge to laugh, his processor producing an image of Orion's pained expression at the thought of experiencing such a drop, then leapt out after him to ensure his Prime reached the ground safely.

The Rangers skidded in the sand seconds after him-landing, rolling and twisting back onto their feet with their weapons up, one after another, in an almost domino-like effect as their parachutes unclicked with a single sharp command. The Twins and Bluestreak rolled and twisted, forming a defensive stance around their Prime as the other Autobots quickly followed suit.

Dylan Matthews glanced back at Orion's frame, tight blonde curls buried under a tightly fitting cap. Catching O'Neil and Johnson's eyes, he jerked his head back at Optimus's frame. "Cover Optimus."

Lips tight, Seamus and Micheal quickly dragged Optimus's parachute and their own over him like a shroud, protecting him from not only the blazing heat of the sun, but from becoming an easy target. Just a little way off and on top of a now-deserted roof, Epps glanced up at Lennox from the corner of his eye, adjusting himself as he went back to staring down the scope of his rifle.

"Hope the Kid knows what he's doing."

Distractedly Lennox nodded, eyes narrowing on the ancient Egyptian pyramids. "You know he does," he muttered, twisting slightly to scope out their surroundings, "he wouldn't have risked us if he didn't."

Epps was silent for a moment, then pulled away from his rifle entirely to stare up at Will critically. "You tellin' me that if you were in his shoes, you wouldn't do anything, no matter how crazy it sounded?"

Will simply stared back steadily. "You'd do it for 'Mia, don't even try and deny it. And you know he'd kill himself twice over rather than risk one of us."

Epps' dark eyes clouded at the thought, but ultimately nodded slightly and turned back to carefully prepping his weapon, only for both men to startle at Fig's shout.

"Got a visual!" He hollered from the crumbling rooftop he was posted on "Yellow team! Four clicks!"

"Pop flare!" Lennox quickly ordered to Jonathan, who nodded as he wiped stinging sweat from his smoky eyes. The brunette quickly fired off the blinding flare to alert Bumblebee their exact whereabouts. Sharply, Lennox motioned to Hound, who quickly transformed with a series of metallic whirls and clicks into a forest green Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland. "Hound, see if you can-"

He cut off at the unmistakable sound of an F-22 tearing through the sky above their heads. Hesitantly, Epps raised his binoculars, swearing under his breath.

"He's got Cybertronian tattooed all over him-that ain't Air Force." The sergeant lowered his binoculars with another muffled curse. "That's Starscream."

The moment the name left his lips, an odd sound echoed down each solider's com line-a twisted, warped sound that was instantly followed by dead silence; two sounds the Rangers immediately recognized with twisted guts. It was the same noise that had echoed around their base in Qatar when Blackout had attacked, when they had ran into Mission City at the word of a boy and a bot-an event which felt like a lifetime ago.

Lennox shut his eyes tightly for a moment, dragging a hand across his stubble. "The comms are down."

"EMP burst" Epps agreed, chucking his dead earpiece onto the scorching sand and crushing it under his heel with a glare. "I see how this day is going in this godforsaken desert."

* * *

Sam snapped forward and whipped back as Bumblebee slammed on his breaks to avoid Starscream's shells peppering the sandy road, while Miles let out a choked curse as the side of his head slammed against Bee's window as his Chosen swerved sharply as debris of dust and dirt exploded around the yellow Camaro. Bumblebee released a noise akin to a snarl and skidded down into a rusting construction site with Mudflap and Skids on his tailpipe, doing his best to hide in the billowing dust Starscream had oh-so-helpfully provided.

This high-stress moment happened to be the one where Leo, inevitably, cracked.

" _Oh God! Please God"_

Mikaela sighed through gritted teeth as she dug her names into the palm of her hand to try to control her annoyance. She shared a narrowed-eyed look with Miles before forcing herself to be fair. This _was_ one of the student's first experiences with Decepticons and she should be understanding-

" _Please God I want to live I just want to live God I'm sorry for not calling Stacy Knowles back"_

 _"Stacey Knowles?!"_ Mikaela spat, all sympathy for the student slithering down the drain at the mention of her wide-eyed friend. "You ass-Leo stop freaking out. Leo- _Leo stop freaking out!"_

The Puerto Rican simply clenched his fists tighter in response, shaking his head back an forth as his chanting reached a higher pitch. " _I just want to live please God just let me live!"_

 _"I thought you were an atheist!"_ Mikaela shrieked as Simmons went to slam his hand against Bumblebee's dashboard-only to yank it back guiltily at the last moment.

"Shut this guy up!" He pleaded to...actually, Sam wasn't quite sure. It could have been himself, Miles, Bumblebee or any one of the Gods his 'uncle' so often prayed to during Sam's training. Though, after a few more minutes of Leo's incessant screaming, it seemed he was simply talking to himself as he snapped around and jabbed his taser into Leo's neck with a brilliant crackle of electricity. He sighed in relief when the student passed out and relaxed back into his seat, grinning sheepishly and shrugging at Sam's raised eyebrow. "I can't take this guy anymore."

Miles snorted in the back seat, which dragged Mikaela into slightly sharp giggles. Even Sam cracked half a smile, only for it to drop like Starscream had out of the sky, right in front of the speeding bots. Out of Bee's radio, Kate Miller Heidke sighed "Are you fucking kidding me?!" as he skidded between the Decepticon's legs, slipping back into the dust clouding up from where Starscream had just missed the flash of his canary paint.

With a pained screech the scout slammed to a stop, letting the humans inside spill out, cursing the Seeker and every generation before him. "Scrambler" Sam snapped at Miles, who quickly threw what looked like a green bouncy ball into the air. Instead of falling to gravity's reign, it hovered in the air as what seemed like a dome-like ripple of hot air fell over the group. Miles clicked the timer on his watch, glancing back up at the green ball nervously as he warned,  
"Two minutes."

For two minutes, the Spark signatures of Bumblebee, Skids and Mudflap would be scrambled, leaving it near impossible for any con to lock onto their exact position. It was something Sam, Wheeljack and Shadow had developed just before the teen had gone off to collage. The design was not yet perfect and could not be used in actual battle-the risks of being shot by a confused member of your own side were far too high.  
Sam's teeth ground as he glanced over to where his heart pulled-to where he knew Orion lay. Growling, he twisted to address part of his mismatched family severely.

"We're going to have to split up-Yes I know how much of a fragging awful idea it is, Miles." He cut off his protesting bother sharply as his jaw clenched tightly. "We haven't exactly got a variety of options.". The blonde started at his brother for a long moment before crossing his arms stiffly and allowing one jerky nod. Blowing a loose curl out of his vision, Sam addressed Bumblebee quickly. "Bee, you're the decoy. You lead the Decepticons away, all right?"

"Of course, Sam." Bee's soft English lilt was nothing but loyal-which did nothing to wash away the acid in the back of Sam's throat.

"You keep yourself safe, alright? Don't pull anything stupid and pull back if you have to." The human crossed his arms defensively, rubbing at one awkwardly. "I don't need anymore of this family dying, alright?"

The Autobot's headlight flashed once in acknowledgement and Sam forced himself to move on. "Simmons, Leo, you take Skids and Mudflap and get the hell out of here-"

" _Aw **pit no-**!"  
"Sam that's not fair-!"_

 _"Enough."_ Sam silenced the twins' Cybertronian with his own, lips pressed tightly together. " _I know you want to help and you already have, but this isn't Beijing or Shanghai. You'll be going into open warfare-it's going to be us trying to push back a **lot** of cons and stay alive. This isn't some well-planned extraction: It's going to be a hundred different maneuvers thrown out at once and hoping that we can stay alive longer than them. You haven't have enough training and you might end up making things harder for us as we are distracted looking out for you guys as well as watching each other's backs."_

They shifted slightly in their shocks, before reluctantly muttering an affirmative. Sam sighed in relief, rubbing his hand over his eyes. "Mikaela you should probably-"

" _Pit_ no." Her lips twisted tightly as she planted her hands on her hips firmly. "I'm a medic halfway through training, Sammy. That's means I can patch Miles and Hound up and when you get yourself _killed_ , I can make you all pretty for when we bury you. I have every fragging right to be down there with you two-I feel the same way about those bots down there." Her voice cracked slightly and she blinked away the sheen overtaking her vision. "Those are my pit-spawned brothers and sisters and friends down there too."

Sam held her stare for a moment before dipping his head, yielding to her effortlessly. He snapped his head back to Simmons and Leo when Miles hissed out a warning that their time was running out. "You take Skids and Mudflap and you get as far away from here as possible, you got that?" He slashed his hand through their air a thunder rolled across Simmons' face and his mouth snapped open to argue. "You take them outta here, you got that Simmons? I'm trusting you to get them to safety."

His uncle visibly wrestled with himself for a moment before nodding sharply. "And you three?"

Sam glanced back to where he knew Orion lay and then dropped his gaze to the matrix, still pulsing softly in his grip. "I'm going to get to Orion."

Simmons nodded slowly and reached out, grasping Sam's shoulder tightly. "I hope that thing works, kid."

"Thanks." Sam smile was the sun filtering through the trees for a brilliant moment, before it faded into cool determination as he nodded once at Bumblebee. After Miles pressed a fierce kiss to the holo who appeared and vanished in a flicker, the trio turned on their heels and sprinted off into the sunlight as Bumblebee took off in the opposite direction with a taunting rev.

Simmons watch the two boys he helped raise run off head first into peril with a heavy heart, before turning to grin at the two bots still sulking slightly as he turned away from Leo's panicked mutterings about Starscream coming back. "How old are you two?"

The twins hesitated for a moment, sharing a quick conversation over their commline before slyly answering "We reached our majority last Orn."

"Great." The human had no idea what an Orn was but it seemed like a confirmation anyway. "Wanna go fight bad guys?"

Skids' door flew open, welcoming the human into his driver's seat.

* * *

General Morshower set the phone down with a light click, pressing his fists into the table as if they were they only things holding him up. "Well, that was our good friend, Galloway. He's... _less_ than pleased."

One of the techies snorted under their breath, quickly forcing their humor away when the General locked eyes with them. He held his stern stare for a second before he allowed a glimmer of amusement to shine lightly in his eyes. Pushing back from the table, he started down at the phone again as he snorted in dark mirth. "How is it that we can't reach our men, but he can reach me from some random Egyptian desert?"

Heavy silence was all that greeted his words. Huffing, he motioned one of the figures standing in the corner of the room over to stare at the screen with him. "Lennox's team has the latest in quantum crypto gear. Can somebody tell me why we can't establish simple radio contact?"

"We're hailing them on every frequency and mode in the book, sir." One techie admitted, his face looking eerily grey in the blue screens which lit the dark room. "Our satellites in the area have gone blind. We're working it, sir."

"Damn it. Something's not right." Morshower muttered, catching the figure beside his quick, aborted nod. "It doesn't add up...Contact the Jordanians, see what air assets they've got in the area," He quickly ordered, snapping one of the techies into action. To another he continued, "and get Egypt's General Salam. Ask him to clear some USV overflights in Egyptian airspace. We need an assist in confirming visuals now."

The two techies pulled into their headphones, fingers flying over keyboards as they began to execute the necessary actions. As they did so, Morshower turned slightly, cutting the room off from his conversation. "Can you get through to yours?"

"No." The figure admitted softly. "Not yet. Their signals are being scrambled from another source-someone doesn't want us to send in backup."

"How long until you can get through?"

The figure shrugged and it would have seemed uncaring if it was not for the stiffness of their shoulders. Behind their back, they gripped their wrist tightly. "Another fifteen minutes at least."

Morshower clapped the man on the back with a nod, huffing another breath. "Keep doing whatever you can, Prowl."

The holo nodded as he flickered out of existence, sending a quick prayer to Primus for more time as he did so.

Morshower ran his tongue across his teeth and pressed the heel of his palm against his forehead. "This lot is going to send me into an early grave" he muttered, before raising his voice to address one of the unoccupied techies. "Scramble the Predators now.

* * *

Simmons and Leo climbed out of Skids and gazed around at the slightly newer section of the construction site, wandering among the abandoned vehicles warily. "I don't think he's still following us-"

The words were only just out of Leo's mouth as an sleek jet landed cut through the air and transformed, metallic clicks echoing down to where the two humans stood. It landed on top of the nearest pyramid with little care for one of the Wonders of the World. Simmons raised his hand, his handheld telescope shaking in his grip as he focused in on the NB- _Decepticon_ perched on top. The con twisted his head and seemed to stare directly down the device, hell-fire eyes searing into Simmons'.

"NBE-1" His grip tightened as he forced the telescope away from his eyes, his face drained of colour. "Megatron."

Up on top of the pyramid Starscream landed gracelessly, sending a few ancient stones tumbling from where they stood proud for thousands of years. Megatron pulled his gaze away from where he had been surveying his surroundings to glare at the mech expectedly.

"Master, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the soldiers brought the shell of Prime." Locked inside a twisted tyrant, Maximus flinched at the thought of his little brother lying out in the middle of nowhere, frame beaten and scratched from his talons that still had his dried energon buried underneath. However, a sudden realization dawned on him as if he had just been punched in the spark-if his brother had not yet been given Honours, that must mean-

"The boy must have the Matrix." Megatron snarled, even as Maximus threw his helm back and laughed, joy pulsing through his spark. _His brother still had a chance_. "We cannot let him reach Optimus. Decepticons, begin our assault!"

* * *

"We got incoming!" Midnight roared, gritting her teeth at the sign of the first Decepticon blazing through the air. Beside her, Shadow shifted on his feet, glancing over at Lennox.

"Take cover!"

The humans and Autobots scrambled into action, launching themselves over crumbling walls and ducking between desolated buildings. Lennox and Epps ended up crouched behind a freestanding wall that was all that was left of a demolished house, a few soldiers ducking in beside them. Lennox peered out through the window that once held glass, lip curling at the number of Deceptions that were pelting the sand on the other side of the village.

"We got a whole lot of fight coming our way."

Lennox pulled back from where he was looking, snapping his eyes to Jonathan's. "How many?"

"About thirteen of them." Lennox hissed in response, tightening his grip on his gun. Epps groaned, shaking his head as he repeatedly checked his weapon.

"This ain't good. This ain't good." He peeked out from behind the wall, jerking back in at the sight of the several, spikey cons prowling towards them. "We're about to get our asses _whupped."_

Ignoring his pessimistic sergeant, Lennox locked gazes with Ironhide, gesturing quickly. The mech nodded in return and barked a sharp command over the Autobot's commlink. Together, the pair herded up their people into one large group, the Autobots keeping their commlinks open so they could pass the message onto the other humans hidden on rooftops and down shaded alleyways.

"Alright, those Decepticons are searching for Sam. Whatever he has, he thinks it'll bring Optimus back to life, so our mission is to find him and get him to Optimus." Lennox gazed over the group, fighting back a small smile at the sheer determination radiating back at him. "All right, we're gonna draw fire from the left flank. I need a scout team."

Ironhide stood from where he was kneeling, cannon whirling readily. "I'm leading." He locked eyes with Will, a silent command for him to keep himself _safe_ which was echoed back at him. Will nodded softly, snapping back into the Army Captain that had led his Rangers across the desert and through a city filled with aliens. Jonathan, Shadow and Law lurched to their feet, steel in their spines and fire in their veins.

"Go up through the middle with Arcee and Ironhide!" They snapped into action, disappearing after the bots in a swirl of sand. Lennox directed his attention back to the rest of the group, nodding at those who stayed. "All right, when you see the precious cargo, I want you to pop green smoke and come back through those pillars." He pointed over at the group of cracking pillars just behind them-an area filled with places for humans to slip into to avoid getting squished. "We'll have the ambush set. Move out!"

" _ **Hoo-ah!**_ "

* * *

Sam, Miles and Mikaela darted through the antiquated buildings, slipping in and out of the blazing sunlight. "We've got about mile to go" Miles sighed, glaring up at the sun. "Give or take."

"O-h Gre-gre-at." Mikeala panted, throwing a glare at her brothers. "Training. Us. Later."

Miles threw a light grin at her, opening his mouth to make a sly remark, but instead grabbed her and Sam and yanked them behind one of the pillars. Through the gaps, the could see the village and the sunlight bouncing off the familiar forms of the Autobots. As well as the Decepticons that were prowling their area hungrily.

"How many?" Sam breathed to Miles, who narrowed his eyes in response.

"At least ten...there's definitely more though, look at their formation. They are allowing for other cons we just can't see from here..and-"

Their vision was cut off by a pair of pedes slamming into the ground, knocking over one of the pillars next to them. Mikaela's heart leapt to her throat as Sam ushered her around the pillar to try and avoid the con's gaze. Already, the faint crashes and bangs of battle were floating towards them, beckoning them back to their brothers and sisters. With a soft click Miles loaded his Sig Sauer M11, grinning at Sam.

"Ready to be a solider again?"

Sam drew his Astrum out from under his shirt, smoothing his thumb across the smooth stone. Closing his eyes for a moment, he threw himself back into the night Orion had gave it to him. How Orion had carefully brushed his hair away to secure it; the brilliant smile that has spread across his face at the sight of it settled in the base of his throat; how Orion had cupped his face like he was something infinity precious, thumbs lightly smoothing across his cheeks.

How he felt like nothing could ever touch him when Orion had rested his forehead against his and whispered, without a hint of doubt, how much he loved him.

Electrical eyes snapped open and as he tucked the Asturm out of sight once more he simultaneously loaded his glock. The smirk he threw at Miles in response was more savage than satisfied.

"Yes."

He sprinted out from behind the pillar and slid through the Decepticon's legs with a wrathful laugh, grinning as Miles and Mikaela caught up with him as he sprinted towards the battle-towards Orion.

Nothing would stop him from bringing Orion home.

_**Nothing.** _


	50. Put On Your War Paint

Simmons had seen a lot of Transformers in his years. He helped make tiny NBTs out of laptops and stereos. He had pulled Newbies back before they could be stepped on by GMCs and F-14s. He had helped devise tactics against one who had been living as a Newbie for almost a year without anybody noticing-until they had gone batshit crazy at the sight of Megatron ( _Ha Kid, got it right that time!)_ and had attempted to kill everybody in sight.

He had never, until this day, seen eight separate Transformers combine into one single, _huge_ unit _._

" _Hide!"_

Leo mumbled a half-hysterical "Vámonos, amigos!" to Skids and Mudflap before sprinting after Simmons, spraying sand behind him as both of them skidded behind an abandoned tour van.

Reacting automatically, Simmons threw his arm out to catch the teen when he overshot their hiding space, yanking him back with his arm thrown across his chest in a typical 'soccer mom' move. The Alpha spared himself a quick moment to breathe before hesitantly peeking out of their hiding spot to asses their threat.

The Decepticon was a monstrous being, one that looked like every second it was combined caused it blistering agony. Its parts cracked and groaned angrily and unlike every other Transformer the Alpha had laid his eyes on, it could not stand up. It seemed that it was so heavy it was forced to crawl on all fours, while every movement it made seemed an enormous, pained effort.

What really froze Simmons though, was the beast's optics.

When Sam had been so much younger ( _Gods, he had just been a_ _**boy**_ ) he had begged his uncle and him to listen to him. ' _Their optics!'_ he had roared, screaming as Fault Line forced his knife into his side a little deeper. ' _Those with blue look pained! Those with red look gleeful or empty-It is them, uncle! Those who laugh-_ _ **they**_ _are your enemy! '._ He had been thrown into another scream, arching against the blood-soaked ropes that held him tight to his chair. He had panted, blinking through sweat and tears to continue. ' _Look in their optics and you will_ **_know_** _which means you harm_!'.

The beast's optics were green and pained. As if its body was moving against its will and it had no way of stopping it.

"Goddammit, Kid." Simmons swore, swallowing thickly, "I hate it when you're right."

* * *

The trio pushed themselves back against the cool brick behind them, eyes on the sky as Starscream circled above them, like a hawk waiting to swoop down and snatch its prey.

"Guys." Sam and Miles' heads snapped around to where Mikaela was pushing open a door silently, juggling her medkit under her arm and breathing in relief when the door didn't so much as creek. "In here."

Silently and making sure they did not step into the sweltering sunlight and draw Starscream's optic, they slipped into the cool house, ducking away from the holes in the roof. Sam immediately dropped to one knee, holding Mikaela and Miles' gazes effortlessly.

"Once it's clear, I'm going to run to Orion, okay?"

Miles had already started shaking his head the moment Sam had spoekn in singular terms. "No. You're not going alone, Sam. I'd sooner dance into the Fields of Punishment after flipping off Hades himself than agree to that."

"Look, you two are more help to everybody else. You're medics, you can help the wounded. That's your jobs." Sam insisted, beseeching his siblings desperately even though he knew it would be no use.

"Our job," Mikeala growled, pulling her hair back from her face with a hair tie passed from Miles, "is to make sure everybody makes it out alive. That includes you. God knows you'd get yourself killed if we weren't around."

Sam bit his tongue rather than snap at his sister, staring at the wall decorated with a beautiful star made out of blue and clear glass bottles instead. A comment like 'If this doesn't work there won't be anything to save' would not be helpful at this present moment. Hissing through his teeth, he tried to word his plan better, only to be rudely interrupted be a crash directly outside and a snarl of Cybertronian.

" _Find Prime's Promised."_

The trio scrambled to their feet, weapons at the ready. The gun's weight was still heavy and unfamiliar in Mikaela's hands, but she had had enough lessons with Will and Hound to at least be comfortable in her ability to shoot and hit what was trying to kill her. Outside the Decepticon slowly circled the house, muttering and cursing to itself. Miles gently shuffled Sam out of the way to pull a rusty sword out of the wall, peering through the small hole it left behind. He jerked back with a silent snarl as the Decepticon shot at the cluster of homes randomly, as if he was bored and was doing so merely to occupy himself.

He pointed towards the roof to indicate that the con was right above them, biting his tongue harshly as what looked like a Cybertronian bug buzzed through the hole he had just been peering out of. Closing his fist around it he shot a panicked glance at Sam as it began to vibrate in his hand, buzzing angrily. His brother bit his lip but before he could give any command, the bug bit Miles and his fist clenched in response-crushing the bug.

" _There!"_

The roof was torn away from above their heads and Starscream peered in, optics brightening at the sight of the three humans. His servo shot out, talons curved to snatch them up and only missing as Sam and Miles grabbed their sister and yanked her back, sending them crashing through a hollow wall in a billow of plaster and dust.

"Up up up!" Sam roared at Mikaela as he yanked her up and pushed her out the side door, ducking as Starscream swiped at the side of the building in anger and sent bricks cascading down behind them. They scrambled up the crumbling steps of another building, ducking in and out of the Decepticon's vision as they climbed towards the roof. For one heart-stopping moment, Miles almost plunged to unquestionable death as another Con joined the chase and took out the steps under his feet. Had Sam and Mikaela not clung to him and dragged him back to safety, at the very least he would have never again be able to leave a bed.

The three of them climbed higher, squinting against the blinding sun and almost missing the sheer drop that awaited them at the edge of the short roof-Only Miles returning the favour and pulling Sam and Mikaela back stopped them from falling. Quickly judging the distance between the two roofs-and taking into account that they are merely seconds away from being shot by Starscream- Sam forced his brother and sister back, tangling the fingers of his free hand with Mikaela and nodding at Miles grab her wrist, his fingers tangling around the handle of the medkit.

"Ready?"

Miles had the audacity to grin at him before the three of them sprinted towards the edge off the roof and jumped as the roof behind them exploded, pelting the vulnerable humans with razor-sharp shrapnel. Mikaela screamed as her arms were sliced while her brothers let out agonized moans-bits of bricks slicing soft skin and dirty dust settling in open wounds. They hit the stone roof in a tangle which tore another strangled cry from their throats, rolling right off it and over the edge. Their fall was slowed slightly by the cheap lean-to in between the building which provided a brief respite from the sun, but all three still hit the ground with sickened groans, Mikaela letting out a choked cry as she fell on her wrist harshly.

"Bone bruise," She managed to gasp as Sam and Miles stumbled to their feet, wiping the blood with trickled down from their foreheads out of their eyes, "I'm fine". She staggered to her feet and after swiping up the fallen medkit, the three of them were out in the blazing sun once more, sweat stinging their open wounds.

They ducked into another deserted house, peering out through a gaping hole that may have once been a small window. Wiping the blood out of his eyes, Sam squinted at where smoke billowed up and the sound of artillery boomed. He had to blink a few times to clear away the double-vision that was clouding his sight.

"We got a half-mile."

Miles moved up to his shoulder, gritting his teeth. "They don't know we're here-We gotta watch out for friendly fire."

* * *

Simmons was dead.

He was so, so dead.

Sam told him to get the two Autobots away from the fighting and one of them had just been eaten.

He was so _dead_.

* * *

The trio slid down the sand dune, choking back cries as the sand scraped across already pained flesh. Scrambling back to their feet, they darted through a set of pillars which had stood proud for centuries yet were under threat of falling in the next fifteen minutes.  
Sam took point, sprinting towards the heaviest sounds of fighting and paying no heed to the pain slicing through his body, lightheaded with a mixture of pain, hunger and exhaustion. His surrounding flew by him in shades of gold and grey-his senses attuned only to the footfalls of his siblings behind him, the sound of the fighting in front of him, the taste of salt and copper on his tongue and the screams of the woman off to his right-

He lurched to a stop and snapped around, eyes narrowed at the figure stumbling through another set of pillars. She was clearly not a native to the country-her skin was almost as pale as his own. Her hair was a mess of mahogany curls while the cornflower blue dress which floated around her knees was clearly not picked for such blazing sun. If he had any doubts about going to the woman, they were gone when she turned slightly, displaying one arm wrapped around the bump of her growing child.

He changed directions, running towards the woman who was still sobbing hysterically, trembling in terror. "M'am!" She froze at the sound of his voice and he continued to run to her, flicking through ways of getting her to safety. "M'am, it's okay. I'm with the army, I'll get you to-"

She turned, and Sam's world ground to a halt. Staring back at him was his father's chocolate eyes, his grandmother's nose and his mother's cupid bow lips. His eyes flicked over her, noting the freckles that dusted the bridge of her nose-' _Like me',_ he thought with a touch of delirium-and the chipped pink nail varnish that covered her nails-including the finger that held a golden wedding ring and engagement ring.

Miles and Mikaela skidded to a stop beside him, panting slightly. "Sam? What's wrong?"

At the sound of his name, the woman gave a choked gasp, covering her mouth with one hand as her eyes roamed over Sam-as if she was worried he would vanish if she looked away. She stepped forward cautiously and gently touched his cheek with a shaking hand, a sob catching in her throat as she did so.

"Sam, who is this?" Miles hissed at him, eyes darting over the woman, assessing her for threats. His finders twitched around the grip of his gun as the steady drumbeat whispering in his mind increased to a shout.

"She's," He coughed to try and force some of the hoarseness out of his throat, blinking as his eyes burned, "she's my sister."

Mikaela's moth dropped open a Miles visibly paled, grasping Sam's shoulder tightly. "I thought you said-"

"Guess it was another thing he lied about." Sam bit back, running trembling fingers through his filthy hair. Though it felt as if the very ground beneath his feet was trickling away, he forced himself to think clearly. This was not the time to let his emotions overwhelm him-he had to get his sister out of there, _now_. "Right, Sophie, we've got to get you out-"

He was cut off by Sophie's scream as a Drillbot dropped down from the building it was hiding behind. The force knocked them to the ground, Sophie falling on her back with a terrified cry, arm wrapped tightly around her stomach. Miles dragged Mikaela back from where she had fallen and Sam dived in front of Sophie, screaming at the Con as terror tightened around his throat.

"Wait!"

The Con snarled at them, arm turning into a canon similar to the one Ironhide was so proud of. Sophie was sobbing behind him, desperately gasping out pleas of "Not again" and "Not my baby please." Sam's lips tightened in response and he clambered to his feet, hands raised above his head in surrender, bandaged palm screaming as he clutched the Matrix tightly.

"Sam Witwicky." The Decepticon cocked it's head as it crooned at the human, ruby optics following the human as he carefully inched away from his sister, drawing it's gaze firmly onto him. As soon as she realised what he was doing, Sophie's pleas silenced. Mikaela and Miles, however, did not follow her direction. The two whistled and shouted, doing everything they could to draw the gaze that was firmly locked on their brother.

" _Shut up!_ " Sam hissed at them, waving his arm when the Con looked like he was going to turn. "Hey! Don't hurt them. You don't want them."

"Sam _run!"_ Mikaela screamed at him, nails digging into Miles's arm as the blonde wavered between running towards his brother and keeping his sister safe.

A sharp whistle caught Sam's attention and he almost crumpled in relief as Bumblebee peeked out from one of the alleyways, motioning quickly to the human. Tilting his head to confirm he understood, Sam slowly began to shift again, drawing the Con in a tight circle.

"You want me!" He called, backing up slightly and mentally sighing in relief when the Con followed. "You need me because I know about the Matrix."

The Con's back arched in preparation to pounce-and roared as Bumblebee dropped onto his back with a fury-filled cry. Sam launched himself over to Sophie, crowding her back against one of the building and yanking his gun from it's holster. As he fired at the Con, he spared a tight smile at the thought of how Orion would react had he knew he was shooting with one hand.

Bumblebee twisted the Con around, meeting Sam's eyes before he did anything else.

But this wasn't like with Starscream or Megatron or any of the other Cons that had made Sam or one of the Autobots hesitate before trying to offline. There was no pull on their spark or whisper in their head that made the pause. Whatever was wrong with the other Cons, this one had joined of their own free will and took glee in tearing bots and humans apart piece by piece.

Sam nodded slowly, a snarl sneaking across his lips. "Kill him, Bee."

Bumblebee's battle mask slid down and he twisted, slamming his servos and pedes into the Con and dodging his counter-strikes. The Bot snarled as the Con struck out, catching his arm before it could hit Mikaela and-in a move he had learned from his brother- slammed his elbow into the Con's face, knocked him to the ground. Bumblebee scrambled on top of him, catching the Con's leg and twisting it sharply so he could not walk. They grappled to and fro, Miles skidding into the fray in a spray of bullets and a snarl that promised death to whoever hurt his Chosen.

* * *

Ravage stalked towards the fight, tanks heaving with nerves. Breaking into a base and distracting a bunch of humans was easy. But killing another mech? He didn't want this. He didn't like this. But it didn't matter. He had _orders_. And he had to follow them to keep his siblings and his generator safe.

The panther's back arched, ready to fire-and stopping dead when Prime's Promised slid in front of him, eyes burning blue. He froze, optics panicked as he searched left and right for some command from someone in charge. His gaze snapped back to Prime's Promised he raised his hand, blue glyphs burning brightly across his skin. The human tilted his head as he stated, in a voice far softer than what Ravage would have imagined, "You're only a mechling."

Ravage shuffled, barring his teeth at the human. The human, however, only smiled at him. "Stay out of the fighting. I will guarantee you and your siblings sanctuary if you stop now."

Then he simply turned his back on him and walked back to the fight. Ravage stared as the human walked away, his words ringing in his audio.

' _Sanctuary_ '

He was the oldest. It was _he_ his generator had asked to keep his siblings safe as he was torn away from him, biting and scratching as his generator was beat into submission.

_**:Stop fighting:** _

_**:But-Ravage-:** _

_**:Stop fighting now. Find each other and stay hidden. We stay out of this fight.**_ :

His loyalty was to his generator, his lost Carrier, and whoever could keep he and his siblings safe. And, if anyone could do that, it'd be the human who killed Megatron.

* * *

Bumblebee ripped the Con's arm off, tossing it to the side. Before the mech could attempt anything else, a single shot from Bumblebee's canon decapitated him, making his death quick and painless-one of the rules Orion had drilled into him. They fought only because they had too and their kills were as fast and painless as possible-to want their victim to suffer before death was a slope that was hard to climb back up.

He reached down to gently ruffle Miles' hair, optics brightening when the blonde tilted his head back and pressed a kiss against his digits before both splitting up for better cover.

By the time he had caught up to Sam, he was trying to calm down his the woman screaming at him hysterically. "We have to get out of here!"

"Sophie-Sophie calm down okay? Just breathe with me, sis. Come on."

Bumblebee's optics brightened and he glanced a Miles, the silent 'Sis?!' Causing the blonde to shrug helplessly, looking torn between confusion and suspicion.

Sam managed to pull one of her palms against his heart, breathing exaggeratedly. "Just like mom taught us, In...two...three...four...five... out...two...three...four...five...six...seven."

Sophie, after a few failed attempts, followed along until her eyes slipped shut and her breathing was back down to a manageable rate. Sam smoothed his thumb over her cheek, brushing her hair back from her face soothingly. "Okay. Okay, we're going to get you to safety"

Her eyes snapped open. "You're coming with me. No." She shook her head as Sam started to shake his, eyes filling with tears. "Sam, you have to come with me. Your not safe here, not with these...these _things."_

Even though they understood that she was terrified, both Miles and Mikaela bristled at what she called their family and the disgust dripping from her voice, while Bee flinched slightly. Sam's face darkened for a moment. "They're not _things_ , Soph, they're-"

He shook his head as Sophie continued to shake her own, eyes wide and stricken. Forcing away his anger, he pulled a calming expression up as he continued to try and his sister. "Sophie, you have to go." He glanced up at Bee desperately and the mech quickly transformed into his alt-mode. Which, for some reason, made Sam's sister pale and sway slightly. Sam pulled her attention back to him resting his forehead against hers. "Get in the car, Sophie."

His sister twisted already shaking her head. "Nonono I am not getting in that thing I can't Sam I-"

"Sophie!" She blinked at his sharp command, lip trembling. "I know you scared. I _know_." His eyes beseeched hers, soft and understanding and something dark began to unfurl in Bee's tanks. "But Soph, you gotta trust me. I know you're scared to go with Bee-I was terrified. But you have to trust me. I trust him with...everything. Please, trust me."

Sophie stared at him, flinching as another explosion boomed a few buildings over from them. Sam gently pressed his palm against her bump, eyes softening with adoration for a being not even born yet. "I would never put either in of you in danger."

His sister swallowed, eyes welling up before nodding, throwing her arms around her brother's neck. "Don't let these things take you too. Don't make me lose you too, again."

Sam hugged her back with one arm, burying his face in her hair for a moment to hide his tears as he nodded, pressing a kiss against her curls as he pulled back and guided her into Bumblebee's passenger seat.

"Keep them safe, Bee. Keep yourself safe too."

And before Sophie's astonished eyes, her brother pressed a kiss against his fingertips and pressed them against Bumblebee's door-as if he was kissing a sibling on the cheek.

* * *

"Morshower!" Prowl skidded into the control room, his face ashen as he fought his way to the general. "They need backup! It's-"

"Holy shit, it's a trick." Moreshower muttered under his breath, staring at the live feed the Predator was relaying. Smoke rolled across the screen and flashes of light indicated where their men were-surround by hulking shapes that circled them and attempted to blast them out of the sand. "Commence Operation Firestorm! Send everyone." He commanded, teeth barring in a frustration. "Get those Marines on the ground now!"

* * *

Arcee outtaked in relief as a familiar shock of red hair popped up in the corner of her optic, flanked by a glimmer of hold and ebony.

"Ironhide, I've spotted Sam."

A mountain seemed to lift off the warrior's frame as a grin fought its way onto his face at the sight of the humans looking out the broken window for a route to run, bleeding and bruised but _alive_. He nodded at the Kid, lurching back as a sickly yellow Con drove his knife towards him.

Flare-Up skid to a stop in front of them, violet frame dented and scraped from various Decepticon's vicious blows. Her optics darted over the human, quickly assessing them for injuries. "Follow us to the pillars." She quickly command, glancing behind her warily. "We'll take you to Opti-"

Miles lunged forward and yanked her back by the servo, but could not pull her completely away from the blast sent by one of the Con's, its red eyes twisted with malice. She cut off with a scream as the blast slammed into her side, taking out a chunk of her frame in a spray of energon.

Mikaela scrabbled through the window and dropped to her knees, the pain in her wrist forgotten as she jerked open the medkit. She hurriedly started to apply patches to the femme, wincing in sympathy as she whimpered when Mikaela started to apply Ratchet's solder using the pen Wheeljack had created for her and Miles. Behind them, Moonracer and Arcee screamed out their sister's name before hurtling themselves at the Con, twin war cries ripping from their vocalizers.

Sam brushed his fingertips against Flare-Up's helm, crooning softly when she nuzzled into his palm. He pressed a soft kiss against her helm as he clambered to his feet, hollering Moonracer's name. The green triplet zipped over, whimpering slightly at the sight of her sister.

"Can you keep Mikaela safe?" Mikaela's head snapped up at Sam's words, but nodded quickly. Flare-Ups wounds had to be dealt with immediately or the damage done to the edge of her spark casing would be fatal.

"I will." Moonracer touched his shoulder briefly, pointing over at the pillars that just hoovered out of sight. "Get to the pillars." Suddenly, her optics brightened and her spark skipped a pulse at the sight of the object clenched tightly in Sam's hand. "Is..Is that-?"

At Sam's nod, a new brightness flared in her optics and she grinned viciously. "Go bring our Prime home."

Sam threw her a sharp smile which promised agony to anyone who tried to stop him and sprinted off through the fighting, his ever-faithful brother at his heels.

* * *

Simmons panted from his climb up the rapidly crumbling pyramid, daring a glance at the steep drop which awaited him should he slip. Automatically his head spun and he clung to the stonework, and not for the first time toyed with the idea of climbing back down to the safe(ish), solid earth. Then again, if the Comboformer manged to unearth the Sun Harvester (Really, what sort of name was that? As far as he was concerned, those Apostle Primes were just asking for trouble) then there wouldn't be much of a point climbing back down-by the time he got to the earth, it already would have gone dark.

Painstakingly, he inched himself closer to the belly of the beast and extracted his radio stiffly, punching and twisting a combination which was imprinted into his mind from before Sam had revolted.

* * *

"USS Stennis. Identify."

Wilder jerked at the response he received, blue eyes darting from left to right at the word vomit which was spewed at him from a voice that tickled at the back of his mind.

_"Where the hell are you? Watching the Weather Channel? SportsCenter? I Dream of Jeannie or something? We got 300 satellites up there. Where the hell are all our men?!"_

The Captain spluttered wordlessly for a moment before his mouth tightened and he grit "Identify yourself."

" _What is your name, sailor?!"_

"Wilder." He spat, lip curling and the disrespect the annoying familiar man on the other end of the radio was spewing. "Captain of the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier."

_"Okay, Captain Wilder. This is Agent Simmons of Sector Seven, Alpha over Training of New Recruits."_

The captain blinked in surprise, pulling the the phone away from his ear to stare at it for a moment before returning with an embarrassed cough while his finger itched towards the PADD on his wrist.

"Alpha Simmons. Sorry sir, our last Intel on you was that you perished when the NBEs hit Dakar."

The Alpha made a choked noise on the other end before recovering with a cough. " _There is the mother of all non-biologicals getting ready to blow up our sun. Do you want to have a throwdown about a few exaggerated rumors about my death or do you want to help save a gazillion lives?"_

Though all his training told him to immediately report any information about ALPHA Simmons, he still saw himself pull his fingers away from his wrist and agree to the Alpha's plan of using the Rail Gun.

Alpha Simmons may have went AWOL, but that man always did have the protection of humanity on the top of his agenda.

* * *

Will's head snapped up at Ironhide's shout, the knot of worry that had festered in his stomach from the moment they heard Sam's twisted, choked voice over the commlink finally unfurling. Sam and Miles were sprinting towards them through the smoke and sun, weaving in and out of the pedes of Cons and Bots, twisting past soldiers and Rebels and leaping over wrecked walls.

Will allowed himself a single second to smile (though his stomach slipped at the lack of a third figure running alongside them) which he knew was echoed by Ratchet just behind him. Said smile froze on his face before slowly trickling off at a horrifyingly familiar roar.

" _Megatron_." Ratchet hissed, lip-plates stretching into a snarl. Any sliver of indecision over how to deal with the mech was pushed down, seething wrath bubbling over it at the memory of his friend's (Pit, the mech had practically been a younger brother) broken frame.

Lennox both paled in horror and burned with fury at the sight of the mech and charged forward, darting towards the two boys with Epps at his heels, barely noticing Fig barking out orders for cover fire behind him. They ducked behind a crumbling wall, remorseless smirks twins across their faces as Sam threw something over his shoulder which attached itself to the nearest Con's arm, freezing his firing capabilities. The two Rebels threw themselves over the wall, hitting the ground with twin thuds and scrambled back to press themselves flush with it.

Now that they were up close, Will could safely say they looked like utter hell. Their hair was clumped with dirt and sand and something that looked sickeningly like blood, while practically every inch of naked skin was scratched or starting to swell with what would turn into some nasty bruises. Miles' shoulder was covered in a bandage with was crusted in dried blood while Sam's hand was tightly wrapped in another, as well has having a large plaster on his cheek which was barley sticking on, displaying a pretty nasty, strangely twisted graze.

It was Sam's eyes, though, which truly worried Will. There was an odd brightness to them-an almost fevered sheen to them that reeked of loss and desperation. It was the sheen that had appeared in Prowl's optics when Sam had begged Orion to take him to Jazz, the same glow that had appeared in Midnight's when she thought Overcast had been lost to her. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up but he forced the feeling away, ruffling the back of the Kid's hair which was free of clotted blood.

As he did so, the scar on his cheek which he had received after Qatar seemed to split open once more.

"You must be pretty confident this doohickey of yours is gonna work, Kid."

Sam held up the oddly shaped device and nodded once, voice firm. "The Matrix of Leadership." He corrected him, a shadow of a grin flashing across his face. "It will. Where's Orion?"

The look in his eyes told the captain that if it did not, Orion's frame would not be the only one that would need a service when this was over.

"He's over there, just across the courtyard". The Kid seemed to freeze for a moment, agonised eyes locked on the section of Orion's leg peeking through the makeshift shroud before he visibly shook himself.

"I need to get to him."

"Not yet." Will warned, glancing up at the clouds. "Airstrike's coming."

Sam's eyes flashed with fear and he shook his head, already pulling himself into a crouch. "What if they hit him? I need to get to him _now_!"

He was forcibly stopped from doing anything drastic by Miles griping him by the back of the shirt and _yanking_ him back, pressing him flat against the wall as a Con set up base right above them. Will shuffled around in front of him until there was a solid wall of himself, Miles and Epps between the Con and the Kid-some sort of protective dragon rising inside them, spreading its wings and snarling at the Con at the thought of it touching the Kid.

They were saved from actually having to _do_ anything though, as with a cry of "Incoming", an unknown yet familiar ( _this was starting to get **very annoying** how the **hell** did he know these people_ ) mech tackled the Con in a spray of sand, tearing him apart with all the joy of a grandfather watching boxing.

Both he and Epps almost had heart attacks when a familiar shape burst out of the sand seconds later, claws poised to tear into their unconventional saviour.

"Motherfucker." Epps breathed, heaving his gun to aim at the mech-scorpion-being that had almost killed them all-only to be deemed unnecessary when Sam simply stood up (ignoring Will's furious yanks to pull him back to safety) and snarled something in Cybertronian, eyes flashing. The moment the cyber-scorpion collided with the mech it dropped to the ground, head bent in submission before slinking away.

Will stared up and the teen, shaking his head slightly. "What the fuck did you do?"

Eyes back to their normal colour, Sam swayed lightly before shrugging. Will nodded numbly, meeting Epps' equally stunned gaze. "Where the fuck were you two years ago?" The Sergeant complained quietly, glancing over at the orange smoke billowing around them. "Man, I hope these F-16s got good aim."

Something in Epps' voice made Will shut his eyes, pained, before asking as lightly as he could, "Yeah? Why's that?"

"Because I told them to hit the orange smoke."

With the movements of a man pressed so far past his limits that everything seemed almost dreamlike, Will glanced down at the smoke lazily swirling around his feet. "You mean that orange smoke?"

"It wasn't my beat toss, okay?" Epps' sighed gruffly.

They shared a single, long-suffering look before scrambling up, bunching their fists in the Rebels' shirts and dragged them forward with a combined roar of " ** _Run!_** "

They sprinted through the crossfire and orange smoke, racing the heat the licked their heels and the explosions that tickled their backs. Sand scourged them as they ran, their heartbeats howling in their heads as their muscles screamed. Ironhide flanked their right, snarling at them to keep going as he fended off the closest Con with a bellow.

They were almost at the nearest safe-spot when Sam and Miles detangled their grips and twisted, hurtling towards Prime.

Part of Will knew this was one if the best times to run. Now that airstrike was falling, there's would be no friendly or unfriendly fire to worry about-each side was more concerned with getting out the way and would not risk being blown to bits to let off a random shot.

The other couldn't stop their names being torn from his lips in a terrified cry.

* * *

Miles raced with his brother, Orion's frame growing closer and closer in their sights. With every stride Sam sped up, as if his slim limbs were receiving a shot of energy for each meter he grew closer to his Chosen. A wild, almost feral grin stole across his face and he laughed breathlessly, hand reaching-

Behind them, a growl which haunted their nightmares rumbled.

" ** _Die!_** "

Miles and his brother glanced back over their shoulders, stomachs dropping as Megatron loomed closer, grinning sadistically. Off to the side Will and Epps roared and another voice screamed-Mikaela had finally managed to meet up with her brothers minutes too late.

Megatron's canon warmed a sickening shade of violet and Miles finally thought ' _This is it_ '. In that moment, Bee's optics and SwiftWing's laugh and SkyLight's giggle and Sam's grin and Mikaela's singing and the Sparkling's awed stares and the Ranger's teasing jeers and the Bot's exasperated smiles flashed before his eyes and he had a second to think ' _Yes, I've had a good life_ ' before he was blown off his feet in a flash of blue.

Blue which was flung from Sam's hand.

An agonised scream was torn from his throat as he launched himself against the unbreakable shield his brother threw over him-judging by the happy surprise in Sam's eyes as he glanced over his shoulder, arm still outstretched from where he had planned to grip Miles' hand tightly so the blonde would not face Hades alone, it was something pleasant he had not expected.

He had one moment-one single moment where Sam met his eyes and smiled at him, brimming with love and pride and a thousand other emotions the blonde could not begin to decipher-before his brother was hit by a flash of violet and was thrown through the air, twisting over himself gracefully before hitting the ground and splaying out like a rag doll and the blue shield dropped.

* * *

**_BlindingBurningAgony_ **

**_WeightlessBurningTwisting_ **

**_AgonyAgonyAgonyAgony_ **

**_Darkness_ **

* * *

Will didn't remember running to him.

One second the Kid was twisting through the air, then limp on the ground and the next he was at his side, yanking the hysterical Miles off his brother-who fell back into the arms of an equally hysterically Mikaela.

Sam's right leg was twisted sickeningly and his head lolled to the side, displaying a thin trickle of blood sliding down his face. His shirt was burned to scraps and the gut-wrenching smell of burnt flesh from his torso and back forced the Captain to hold back a heave. The plaster on Sam's face was gone and the twisted graze bled anew, seemingly more twisted than before. His lips were still pulled in the smile he threw at Miles and his eyes were only half lidded-glimpses of that shocking blue peeking out at Will as he knelt beside him.

" _ **FUCKING DO SOMETHING**_!" Both students screamed and he began performing CPR robotically, eyes wide and lips numb as he counted.

_1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4_

One of the medics suddenly appeared at his side (He hadn't even noticed the chopper) and pulled him off Sam, setting up their equipment. In the corner of his eye he seen Bumblebee collapse to his knee's with an agonised keen and Ratchet cover his lip-plates, while Ironhide's stumbled back, shaking his helm. Out of sight a woman was screaming Sam's name over and over but Will couldn't tear his eyes away from what the medics were doing to look at her.

"1-2-3-clear!" Sam arched up and collapse back in a sickeningly thud, head lolling as if he was looking at Will through slitted eyes. "1-2-3-Clear!" Thud.

"Do it again." He barely recognised his own voice-it was as if he had gargled with gravel. "Again."

"1-2-3-clear!" Thud. "1-2-3-clear!" Thud. "1-2-3-clear!" Thud. "1-2-3-clear!" Thud.

The medics shook their heads and stood, packing up their equipment. Miles and Mikaela screamed, crawling over to their brother and screaming at him to "Get up get the fuck up don't you fucking leave me like this bro _please_ -!" And "Sammy please, please wake up please come back to us, Sam. Sam _please_ -!"

He rocked back on his heels and has to blink as the world blurs around him

"Sorry captain." One of the medics offered, squeezing his shoulder. "Kid's gone."

Will said nothing and merely stared as the Matrix of Leadership trickled into shimmering blue-black dust, dancing away in the wind.

* * *

_I_ _t's not dark, but it is not light. It's cool, but not cold._

_As far as the eye can see there is a soothing sky of ultramarine and a carpet of light fog which ceaselessly swirls around his knees. Hidden among the fog are balls of azure light which pulse softly and hum when he approaches them._

_He wanders through them silently, searching for something. He does not know what. Something important, that is for sure. He wanders for what could be seconds or decades, and only stops when a woman appears in front of him._

_Her teeth are perfect and straight and she is wearing an amethyst pendent around her neck. Her hair falls to her shoulders in gentle waves and it is the copper of his own. Her eyes are the wrong colour, but exact shape of his own. Her hand is pressed against her mouth and she is crying softly, looking at him as if she will never be able to turn away._

_She gasps and reaches out, drawing him into her arms with a sob. "_ **_Oh, my baby boy_ ** _." She whispers, pressing a kiss to his messy hair " **look at you...all grown up.** "_

_He suddenly becomes unshakeably sure of three things._

_He is searching for his Chosen.  
_

_His name is Samuel James Witwicky._

_And he is dead, because the woman who has appeared in front of him is his_

_" **Momma**?"_


	51. It's A Brave New World

_"Run, Proteus!"_

_The child darted along the blue cobbled streets after Hunter, keeping the older boy in his sights as the sky sobbed fire and the ground trembled beneath his feet, heaving and lurching as if it was about to be ill. They twisted through the turning streets, weaving around the white homes of the poorer as the Emperor's men roared after them-eyes and hands and mouths bloody as they snapped like feral beasts._

_Hunter reached back for his friend, tangling their fingers together and pulling him alongside him, darting into a shadowed ally as Abaddon's men hurtled past them. He glanced down at Proteus, pulling him into a hug at the sight of his terrified face. The boy was only seven summers old-two behind himself, much to the younger's unceasing dismay-and his face was streaked with dirt, his fiery hair thick with ash._

_"I'm sorry." The younger sniffed, gaze dropping to the cobbles when Hunter pulled back sharply._

_"What have I said about blaming yourself for this?"_

_"I know, but he's my uncle-"_

_"It doesn't matter!" The elder hissed, pushing his thick raven locks back from where it stuck to his forehead. He sighed when Proteus only curled into himself further and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "You're not him, Proteus. If you were, you would have simply handed me over to Tyrik for a reward rather than warn me he was a traitor."_

_Proteus did not seem reassured, but any chance of further assuring him was lost when, with a bellow, Abaddon's men caught their sent once more._

* * *

"Momma."

He inhaled deeply and years of pain and anger and despair dissipated as the comforting scent of lavender and raspberry filled his senses. With a choked gasp he pressed his face into her neck, unable to stop the hot splash of tears tearing from his eyes. His mother only hummed to him the lullaby she had softly sang him to sleep with and stroked his hair, taking his weight with careless ease as his knees buckled when a second set of arms closed around him-the iron arms who had chased away his nightmares and monsters from his closet.

His father kissed the crown of his head and they stayed in that embrace until all the years he had been lost were cleansed from his soul and he reluctantly pulled back, drinking in his parents' faces with red-rimmed eyes. Judy smiled softly with the warmth only a mother could possess and Ron was close to tears himself.

"Hello, son." He rasped with a grin, and Sam replied with strangled laugh as he quickly wiped his eyes.

"Hey d-dad." No one commented on how his voice broke as the unfamiliar word rolled around his mouth. "How have you been?"

Ron snorted at that, scratching the back of his neck as he answered. "Pretty good, son." He seemed to revel in the ability to say the word once more, grinning at his son "And yourself?"

Sam shrugged with a helpless smile. "Got a bit rough there, but doing really good now. I've got a kid and a Chosen."

Judy's eyes flashed with an aching grief at the word and she settled a hand on her son's shoulder, catching his gaze intently. "We would _never_ have sent you there." Years of pain weighed in her voice and she leant into her husband for support. "You were to grow in love and taught in patience." She grazed his scar with her thumb as fire exploded in her hazel eyes. "My brother will be damned for what he has done."

The whispers of Tom's bellowed 'You're parents are weeping at your treachery' finally silenced in Sam's head, another lustrum-old weight lifted from his shoulders with only a few words. He nodded quickly, distracting himself from breaking down once more by glancing around himself.

"What is this place? I...I feel like I know it, like I've been here before."

An aching grief flared in Judy's eyes for a moment and she nodded sadly, clutching Sam's hand tightly. "You were here a few years ago for only a moment, before you were brought back into the living world by Miles."

Sam stiffened, habitually brushing his fingers over the old silver scars on his wrist as he dropped his gaze to the mist around his feet. His mother simply pressed another kiss against his forehead as his father squeezed his other hand gently. "You were also here to bring your friend, Jazz, back to his family."

"It's the Between." His father explained, glancing around himself with familiar ease.

Sam arched an eyebrow, helplessly pulled into a smile when his father chuckled. Judy smiled at him and sat cross-legged in the mist, her simple lavender dress spilling around her and motioning for him to do likewise.

"It's a waiting place." She explained as the three of them settled together, gazing out at the fog and orbs, gesturing widely to the orbs that were scattered as far as the eye could see. "All of these orbs are souls who have passed too early. They will wait here, until their true death-date passes, and then they will pass on."

"Pass on?"

His mother smiled at him, ruffling his hair affectionately and pointing off into the distance. Far off-impossible to see unless one was looking for it-something shimmered. It's shape seemed to warp-a pair of tall gates one moment, a tunnel the next. "Heaven, Summerland, The Well of All Sparks..." She shrugged a delicate, tanned shoulder. "The place had many names. There, you are reunited with your loved ones and your soul is given rest to heal until your new life begins."

Sam sighed softly, gazing at it in wonder until his father placed his hand on his shoulder. "Are you ready?"

He jerked, eyes snapping to his father's. "I can-? But, but I _killed_ -"

"When you were ordered to, when you were a child or when you had no other choice, and which you have regretted ever since." His mother's voice was firm though the hand touching the back of his neck was light. "Our creator is not a cruel or unjust."

He blinked at his parents again, glancing back at the shimmering shape. "Don't I have to wait?"

"No." His father smiled at him proudly. "You're soul has been tested and pass through often enough that the Creator does not believe it is fair to hold you back."

Sam stood up and stepped forward, as if he was pulled by an unstoppable force. His mother followed him and twisted her fingers with his, squeezing lightly. "No pain, Sammy."

For the first time in over a decade the endearment was not a doubled edged sword.

His father took his other hand, brushing his thumb across his knuckles. "No war, son. Just peace."

Something unlocked in his chest and he took another step forward, gasping as the golden shape in the distance solidified into a bridge, his family standing on the other side.

His grandfather smiled at him, white hair returned to fiery red and frail body restored to his fitter form. His uncles grinned at him proudly, their battered bodies soothed and renewed. And Esme waved gently, emerald eyes shimmering with admiration and happiness, alabaster skin brimming with life and ebony ringlets bouncing at her shoulders. She beamed at him, and in that second and smile she told him he had no reason to hold onto his crushing guilt, and as it melted away he truly breathed for the first time in a decade.

He took another step forward helplessly, drawn towards towards the warm smiles of his family. Esme's warm grin, his parents' proud smiles, the warmth of Orion's hand gently holding his own as Quickfire tucked her helm under his chin-

He jerked back, stumbling away and pulling his hands from his parents' with a gasp. "I can't." He shook his head in a daze, fingers trembling as he gazed at his mother beseechingly. "Mom I-I can't. I...I have to go back. I have to find Orion and I have to go _home_."

Judy smiled softly at him, her eyes filled with an aching understanding. "Your Chosen is a kind soul, and his love for you knows no bounds." She nodded firmly, causing her son's cheeks to flare a dusty pink. "He has died for you, and made you smile and laugh like no other, and for that we claim him as our blood. And you're daughter..." her smile became even more devoted and her eyes twinkled in delight. "She has your Chosen's heart, you're stubbornness, and her grandmother's charms."

She tweaked Sam's nose, grinning as her son rolled her eyes at her as he tried to hide his grin, while Ron copied his son by rolled his eyes at the two of them, though his own expression of adoration betrayed his love for Quickfire.

But his mother's face grew serious and she framed his face with her hands gently, brushing a stray curl of hair back from his forehead. "But do not make this choice lightly, my son." She warned, a shimmer of fear glittering in her eyes. "Come with us now, and you will have everything which you have wished for since you were a child. Peace, and your family."

His heart twisted as his mother's voice fell to a plea, her lips trembling slightly before she continued.

"I warn you, my son, if you go back there..." Fear finally trickled into her voice and she shook her head, her eyes brimming with unshed tears, "You will suffer as you never have before. You will feel the loss of everything you hold dear, know pain that will never fade from your body and soul, and you will beg to return here. _Please_ , reconsider. Your Chosen would beg for you to stay with us now, if he learned what was to come."

Sam could only close his burning eyes and shake his head, leaning into his mother's hands. "They are worth all suffering." He whispered, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Please, mom. I have to go back."

He opened his eyes hesitantly, breath caught in his throat at the pride shining from his parents' eyes. His mother pressed a final kiss to his forehead before drawing back into her husband's arms. The world around Sam shimmered and blurred, but before his parents finally faded from view, his father smiled at him once more.

"Go, our darling boy, in our eternal love and pride."

And with that they were gone in a blur, leaving behind only the trail of tears on Sam's face as the world rearranged under his feet.

* * *

_Hunter slammed to a stop, staring up at the man draped in black in fear. The man drew his hood back and smiled sharply down at the young heir, platinum hair flawless and scarlet eyes greedy._

_"Ahh, little Hunter." Abaddon hissed, gesturing with one hand lazily to the council of cloaks behind him. Two of the hooded darted forward, hands outstretched to snatch the boy. "I am sorry about this, but war is war-"_

_"No!"_

_The two men were thrown back in a burst of blue which domed over the boy, forcing them back violently. Abaddon's brow furrowed and he flicked his wrist towards the dome with a bored hiss, sending a burst of sickly emerald light towards the dome-which absorbed the light like a sponge and did not so much as shiver. The witch-king arched a bright eyebrow in surprise and raised his hand to throw another curse at the dome, only for his gaze to snap to the child running out of the ally, forehead screwed in concentration and palm facing towards the heir. Hunter slammed himself against the unyielding dome, hitting it fruitlessly in his panic._

_"Proteus, go back!"_

_"Proteus..." Abaddon hummed, his head tilted as he assessed the boy. Cold eyes widened as he recognized the gentle swirls of forest green in the boy's palm. "My brother's son." He narrowed his eyes and then gave another viper smile once as the boy's hand trembled slightly. "Yes, you shall do nicely."_

_He waved his fingers and the boy collapsed like a toy with its strings cut._

_"PROTEUS!" Hunter slammed against the still firm shield, screaming in wordless fury when one of the cloaked stepped forward and lifted the boy, his limbs limp in the stranger's arms. "Don't touch him!"_

_Abaddon ignored the heir's shouts and stroked the cheek of his nephew. He then waved his fingers over the boy's closed eyes with a mutter of _müllgoreth, smirking when a dense black mist poured from his fingertips and hovered over his nephew's closed eyelids for a moment before sinking down into them without a trace.__

__Abaddon spared a final parting glance at Hunter, his lips twisted in a shadow of regret. "I had intended to bring you with me, but it seems my nephew is more talented than I first imagined." He shrugged lightly, lips quirking up in a shadow of a smile. "But I do have a consolation prize. Give my regards to your father and my brother."_ _

__He motioned to his council and then moved towards the outer wall which warped at his glance, a portal to their kingdom opening in the cracked wards. As he glided towards it he threw the heir one last glance over his shoulder._ _

__"Tell them your friend shall be a worthy sacrifice to heighten my powers."_ _

__With that, he laughed as he passed through the portal, taking joy from the heir's screams and pleas._ _

* * *

Sam collapsed to his knees in the dust, arms folded under his face as he whispered prayers and praise to the six beings standing over him, watching him with old and soft optics. The youngest smiled down at the one who has always answered their calls and devoted his life to peace and his family.

"Rise, our First, our Champion. Stand and look on us as equals dear Proteus, brave Samuel."

The human trembled for a moment before slowly rising, hesitantly bringing his gaze to meet the optics of the Primordial Primes. He bowed his head at them, hands trembling where they were clasped behind his back. "It is an honer, Lords and Lady Prime, Brothers and Sister Guardians."

The Brother Guardians smiled at their Champion with their Sister, suddenly reminded of the first time they had appeared before Proteus in a cell, high in a lonely tower.

"Peace, Chosen one." The eldest Brother soothed. "There is nothing to fear here. We have been watching you a long, long time."

Sam met their gaze again, relaxing lightly when he saw only affection and pride in their optics.

"You have fought for Optimus," the second eldest continued, something that looked like a prideful grin toying around his mouth, "our last descendant, with courage and with sacrifice, and devotion to your Prime."

"The virtues of a leader," The third eldest dipped his head towards him, smiling gently at him, "and the Consort of a Prime. For all you have done for our race, and for your Prime, you are worthy of our secret."

"As you know, brave one, " The second youngest nodded to him in respect, optics twinkling at the human's awed gaze "The Renascentia, The Matrix of Leadership, is not found, it is earned."

"And for all you have done for us in the past," the youngest was holding back laughter, trying not to chuckle at his oldest friend's overwhelmed expression, "And for all that you have yet to do for us, we grant you the right to wield it in your Prime's stead."

The Sister knelt, pressing the tip of her digit against Sam's face, smiling sadly when he leaned into it as if looking for support. "There is much danger ahead, but with a kind soul and hope in your heart, you and your Entwined will overcome all obstacles. Go now, heal your Entwined's frame with the Renascentia and reach into the Between and draw his spark home. It is, and always has been, your destiny."

She smiled at him a final time, blessing him with a touch on his cheek and touching the still invisible mark in the hallow of his throat before drawing upright.

As the world and the Prime faded into a blinding white light that was hurtling into the darkness, the last thing Sam knew was the Sister's soft laugh.

"He is waiting for you."

* * *

"Will. _Will!_ " Lennox sluggishly pulled his gaze from Sam's empty eyes to acknowledge Epps. The other solider's hands were trembling as he met Will's gaze, purposely not looking at the limp body which lay between them or the two teenagers still pleading inconsolably. "We gotta move him, Will."

Lennox nodded slowly, shaking his head and grabbing Mikaela around the waist, pulling her away from where she was crouched over Sam protectively and ignoring her outraged cries. "We have to move him, Kaela!" He roared back at her, shaking her gently. "We have to get him to safety!"

That somehow pushed the girl out of her rage and she nodded, scrambling over to Miles to calm him down as Epps pulled him away. Epps nodded at Will as he grabbed Sam's legs, pulling himself into a crouch as Will slipped his arms under Sam's armpits and lifted him up slightly.

"All right." Epps' voice shook slightly at the feel of Sam's dead weight. "On the count of three. One...two..."

The only warning Will had was a sudden flash of blue lighting up the symbols on Sam's skin, the boy's body jolting as if he had been shocked, and a blistering pain on his cheek.

Sam arched out of his arms with a gasp, his electric blue eyes wide and his body trembling like he was coming down after a high. He twisting to the side to cough a spray of scarlet on the sand, groaning in agony as his ribs and the burns covering his chest screamed in response. His cheek blazed angrily, blood trickling down under his chin and splashing on the sand under him as the cut on his cheek tightened, like it had instantly healed.

" _WHAT THE FUCK?!"_ Epps threw himself back from the boy, scrambling backwards with wide eyes. **_"WHAT THE FUCK?!"_**

Mikaela and Miles let out twin cries, jumping forward as if to grab their brother but pulling back at the last second, their hands fluttering over him as they they tried to find somewhere their touch wouldn't hurt him. Behind them, Bumblebee's soft sobs strangled in his throat and Ratchet stumbled back with bright optics, repeatedly shaking his helm as if it would help him to better understand what was happening.

Sam swayed slightly, dizzy from the pain spiking though him and agonizing exhaustion which burned his bones, but somehow he managed to smile weakly at his brother and sister. He turned to stare at the midnight dust which pooled at his side and raised his shaking hand painfully, letting it hover over it. The dust shuddered and surged up into his palm, melding into the matrix once more, while the grains that were carried in the restless wind were drawn back like the Sands of Time themselves were turning backwards.

The human inhaled deeply and rocked to his feet with a pained groan, swaying precariously before straightening, standing tall in the sand saturated in his blood. Taking another steadying breath, he forced himself to take a shaky step towards his Chosen, gritting his teeth against the scream pushing rabidly against his teeth as he limped on his shattered leg. Determinedly, he forced himself to keep moving, pushing past his pain to where his Chosen lay.

Ironhide moved around his Prime carefully, optics narrowed on the boy as he limped ever closer, lips tight with pain but eyes glowing with resolution. For a moment he turned his head to meet Ironhide's optics and the Protector's breath left him in a rush. Slowly, he knelt as the young man approached, fist pressed over his spark and helm dipped in respect.

Because the beautiful triquetra scar in shimmering turquoise on Sam's cheek marked him as his Prime's Consort, recognised by the Primordial Primes themselves as the other half of his Prime's spark.

Sam brushed his fingers over Orion's broken armour, distractedly surprised at how cool it was despite lying in the baking sun for hours. His fingers curled around the jagged groves and he pulled himself up, climbing his still frame without pause as blood trickled down his palms, splashing the armour like teardrops. The small part of his mind which never really slept noted that the others he held dear were slowly coming to circle them, both humans and Cybertronians alike watching him avidly, finally truly daring to hope as he positioned himself over his Chosen's mangled spark chamber.

He closed his eyes as he focused on the energy tucked inside the Matrix, a smile wavering in the corner of his lips as it hummed at him in response as he gently slipped it into the wound Megatron left. It burst awake, sending electric waves rippling over Orion's frame, twisted and broken metal shimmering and bubbling and reforming into strong, unbroken plates once more.

With a desperate, breathless laugh, Sam opened his heart and mind and body up to the Allspark once more, eyes flaring open as it crackled through his skin, letting him brush his fingertips against the beautiful bonds in brilliant primary colours which tied him to those around him. His vision split in half as he stared at the symbols on his skin and followed the gold thread which pushed past the sky and darted through the stars, bringing him back to the Between and among the orbs and mist.

 _ **"** **Orion** **"**_ His voice lay over itself as he heard in in the desert and in the mist, dropping to his knees in front of the orb wrapped in golden thread . _**"** **Orion, please"**_

It shivered slightly, stirring like it was trying to wake up.

 **"** _ **Please come back to us."**_ There was a sob building in his throat and his fingertips hovered over the orbs surface, trembling like his voice.

" _...Sam?_ "

The orb surged towards his fingertips and he jerked back into Egypt, his palms glowing blue as he pressed them against Orion's newly healed spark chamber. Tears were slipping down his face as he choked back a cry, shaking uncontrollably as he gasped,

" _Orion, please come **home**."_

The family who circled Orion's frame dropped to their knees as the mech gasped, optics flaring awake and frame jolting in shock. He outaked raggedly, blinking up at the dazzling sun in dazed surprise. Lowering his gaze to his chest and flickering his optics to clear his processor, his intake twisted as Sam's bloodshot eyes stared back at him with overwhelming adoration, the blue symbol on his check shining cheerfully.

"Sam?" There was a faint memory pulling at his processor, an whisper of Sam's voice as he gasped the names of family members he had lost. "You came back for me?"

Sam merely stared back at him, blinking at him like he couldn't even begin to comprehend what he had just said. Instead he shrugged, smiling in a way that told the mech if he wasn't smiling he'd be sobbing.

"Until the stars stop turning."

He gently curled his digits around his _Consort_ carefully, soothing his hair lightly with his thumb. "And for an eternity after." Curling his digits under him as Sam's knee's threatened to buckle, he cradled Sam against his spark as he pushed himself upright, frame tight in preparation for pain and hissing through his denta when his spark chamber burned like a recent scab being pulled in opposing directions.

His gaze snapped to the right as a shadow moved in the corner of his vision, snarling in defense as it moved towards his Consort. It was only when his processor recognized it as his Protector did the tension in his frame slacken as the black mech hesitantly clasped his shoulder, gazing between him and down at the Consort exhausted in his servos in awe.

Dijon's lip plates moved, but he was brutally cut off when the air above his Prime suddenly burned and with a crackling flash of green, a skinny, ancient mech appeared above them, wielding a tall staff. The Protector didn't get the chance to raise a weapon in his Prime and his Consort's defence before the mech waved his staff, throwing all those gathered around them backwards and locking their muscles and joints, forcing them motionless.

The mech pushed his weight onto Orion, pede pressed against his spark chamber as the Prime desperately threw his arm out, trying to push Sam as far away from the mech as possible as he flicked his spindly wrist, forcing the Matrix out of his spark chamber and into his clawed servo.

He cocked his head as he assessed it, then dropped his gaze back to Orion and smirked down at him as he winced at the pressure of his pede, pushing at the fruitlessly. "Hello, Hunter." He drawled, crimson optics lighting with twisted delight as the other mech froze under him.

The quiet presence in the back of Orion's processor who first stirred when he first locked his gaze with Sam on that pivotal night in June, before Mission City and Elites and an emotion that was too intense and solid to merely call 'love', roared to consciousness.

As he carefully pushed Proteus behind him Hunter lunged at Abaddon, sword pulled out of subspace and denta barred in a livid roar. The other mech spat a laugh, darting out of reach with ease that quarreled with his age.

"You still remember then, dear Hunter?"

"Not much." Hunter admitted tersely, darting in front of Proteus once more as Abaddon attempted to lunge at the human crumpled on his knees. "Just enough to want to run you through."

Abaddon's face crumpled in faux horror as his digits fluttered around his staff, grinning with pointed denta cockily. "Well, we must change that. There's no glory in conquering a naive novice."

He raised his staff and the paralysis that held the Hunter's court shattered; yet before they could spring forward at the mech he growled at them in müllgoreth, his staff raised towards the sky.

All at once they all fell to their knees as one, hands and servos pressed against ears and audios, blood and energon trickling out of screaming mouths as they convulsed. Their first life flashed before their eyes hazily: blurred images of a glittering castle and a bloody battlefield, of their king screaming to the stars as his consort lay broken across his lap, of a summer festival where strings of life were first bound and a vow to chase a demon across the stars until he could be vanquished utterly.

Hunter staggered to his pedes as Abaddon vanished in another flash and mere moments later, the ancient machine inside the crumbling pyramid whined to life. The Prime and king glanced back at his court, body heaving with past and present pain as he glanced down at his Consort shaking in the sand. He merely had to share a glance with his Protector/Second/Brother to know his Consort would be protected with more than their sparks.  
His shoulders straightened as he started towards where Abaddon waited, body slipping through stances that had once been forgotten as fury which had once seared him sizzled through his frame.

He had barely gotten a safe distance from his family when a familiar presence appeared beside him, causing him to instinctively turn slightly in welcome. That's what made it so simple for the silver frame to tackle him and throw him off his pedes with a snarl. He spun into a roll and twisted back onto his pedes, only hesitating in horror for a moment as he stared into his red brother's optics.

"Alfher." He raised on servo placatingly, sword still in hand. "Please. This isn't you."

His brother stared back at him, his optics flickering between shocking red and familiar violet. "I...I can't." He bit at his brother, his frame trembling as it warred against the command his master had bestowed upon him and his love for his brother. "Hunter, Orion, please." He begged, red slowly bleeding into violet. "Stop me."  
He threw himself at his brother with a roar, canon raised and whirling to life.

The fight was fast and brutal. Every slash was parred and every blow was return until the silver mech was forced onto his back with a howl, his brother's sword buried in his leg. The violet finally flared back in the mech's optics and he went limp, staring up at his brother pleadingly. "Finish it."

He stared down at his brother as he pulled his sword out of the wound, lifting it to deliver the killing blow-and twisting around to slice across Abaddon's spark chamber.

* * *

"We have to turn it off." Sam swayed as he stumbled to his feet, leaning into his Protector when he lunged forward and grabbed his forearms. The army captain's gaze roamed over him as the scar on his cheek bled anew as it reopened, reshaping into the mark that mirrored the one on his Entwined's cheek. "Bahadur, we have to turn it off."

The captain shook his head at him, grabbing the gauze passed to him by Pyrrhos and pressing it against the wound on his neck. "You need to _rest_ , little brother."

"But-"

"Proteus, _no_." His brother was angrier than he had ever seen him, his face bleached and jaw hard. "The last time _I_ saw you you were dead in Hunter's lap. Now you are alive after again being _dead_ so you are going to _sit_ and _heal_."

"-But-!"

" _It's already under control_."

Proteus blinked back at him in dazed confusion as Pyrrhos handed his elder brother a radio, watching him in concern.

"We got a call from Seanán-sorry, _Simmons._ There's a Destroyer aiming at that thing as we speak-"

The words were only out of his mouth when the pyramid exploded in a scatter of stones, the Sun Harvester shattered into pieces in seconds.

* * *

He ripped his sword out of Abaddon's chest, tearing at his spark chamber. His optics flickered over to where the Sun Harvester exploded and he grinned, smile sharp as he gazed down at Abaddon. "You failed. Earth is safe."

Abaddon hissed back at him, fist pressed against his bleeding chest. He watched with cold optics as the Prime raised his sword to deliver the killing blow, to end the madness and evil that had perverted the universe for lifetimes, and grinned.

The Prime jerked back with a pained roar as Megatron sunk his dagger into his leg and threw himself at his master and they both vanished in a flash of green.

* * *

" _Please_ , little brother. You have to rest." His brother pleaded with him, trying to pull him towards where Aesculapius and Iasthai worriedly waited for him. Proteus pulled against him, scanning the horizon with stricken eyes. Abaddon's presence still sickened the world and so still lived, but he would not left if Hunter was still-

"I can't." He gasped, pushing back the darkness curling at the edges of his vision and the pain streaking through his body. "I have to know. I have to know he-" He froze as his Entwined appeared in the distance, injured and stricken, but alive.

Abaddon was still alive. Alfer-Maximus was under his control and bound to his every whim. The Elites wanted his blood and the Decepticons howled for war once more.

But his Entwined and children and brothers and sisters were alive, and Abaddon was injured enough he would not attack until he healed, which gave them time. Time to strategize and train and prepare so they could defeat Abaddon, once and for all.

For now they were safe, and so he let his brother catch him as he sank into a desperately desideratum sleep.


	52. Take Strength From Those That Need You

There was a chopper near him. As he slowly rose to consciousness, though his eyes remained firmly sealed, the familiar beat of its blades slowing to a halt was the soundtrack of his training. As he was swaying lightly, the sun gently soothing his skin and a salty breeze painting his lips, he knew for sure he was near water of some sort. The catastrophe of commands that shouted around him allowed a small wave of calm to ripple through his aching bones; the voices of his friends and family were tense but not angry, impatient but not fearful. Wherever he was, he was safe.

A familiar voice shook his peace, the words slurred together but the sadism behind them as cutting as a blade. Galloway was here, close, and gleeful.

He tried to force his eyes open, push himself up and demand where he was being taken; but his exhausted lids only fluttered, his aching fingers only clutched the soft material covering him and all that crawled out of his throat was a weak whimper.  
The very second he made a noise a warm hand covered his, another soothed his hair and every nerve that had been strung out and blazing for days melted into peace at the familiar shock of electricity.

"It's okay, darlin'". His eyes burned and he choked a weary sigh as the achingly loving baritone soothed over him like honey. "We're safe, you have nothing to worry about."

The sadistic voice spat slurs again and his Chosen's voice rose to a wrathful snarl, biting and seething before softening into silk. "Just sleep, darlin'. We all made it."

He sank back down into rest, fingers twitching against the rough hand gently cradling his own

* * *

The second time Sam swam to consciousness, it was to the sound of shouting and the thrum of fury stiffing the air. A golden glow burned behind his eyelids and as he blinked awake, he had to turn his head to avoid being blinded. His vision was invaded by splotches of black and it took a few moments before his irises contacted and sharpened on the silver ring circling his wrist. It clinked against the metal bed-rail which ran along the left side of his bed and refused to budge even when he pulled against it.

The handcuff stared mockingly, and when he twitched his ankle, an identical clink jingled back at him.  
His eyes darted over to his other leg, bandaged tightly to let it knit back together and bone-deep bruises heal, and incredulous laugh threatened to bubble through his lips. He had a broken leg and they still felt the need to handcuff him-twice.

"How dare you touch him?!"

It took him a few attempts to clear the last of the black splotches, but he eventually discovered the familiar shapes of Will and Ironhide standing at the foot of his bed. His relief at their presence waned when his eyes locked on their tense shoulders, their stances radiating anger. And judging by the voice yelling at them...

Sam struggled to sit up to catch a glimpse of Galloway's face as he ranted, but his back and chest and leg angrily protested in a flare of fire. His responding grunt was lost in Galloway's shriek, a flash of a fist appearing in the gap between the couple's heads.

"There's a Presidential Order demanding him! He has to be taken into custody-!"

"-He's going nowhere with _you_." Ironhide's utter disgust for the man finally made itself known, months of holding his tongue at the wish of his Prime and Chosen pouring out of him in a tide of fury. "My Prime is currently discussing these events with your President. If you are truly so witless to believe we will ever had over our Prime's Consort to the likes of your _lot_ -!"

"How dare-!"

"Enough."

The remaining tension steeling his spine liquefied and he pushed himself against his pain, forcing himself upright to strain a glimpse through the gap between his Protectors as the turbulent of emotions tumbling through him blurred the edges of his vision.

Orion's hair was sheared, the curling locks sliced short to allow Ratchet to cover the wounds on his neck from the fight with Megatron. All he wore was his leather jacket, lightly battered but still holding strong, and a pair of the grey cargo pants all Autobots had stored away in subspace. Each line in his furrowed brow screamed exhaustion as he stared down Galloway, his jaw clenched tightly and cerulean eyes cold.

"Your presence is no longer necessary, Director." His voice was cool in a way Sam had not heard since his school went up in flames, outside the moments of turbulence in meetings and missions. It had reverted back to his 'Prime' voice, endlessly level as even the slightest splinter of personal emotion was tucked away tightly in his spark. "The Presidential Order had been retracted and the warrant-" His lip curled minutely, the small break in composure creating a glimpse into the broiling rage rolling through his spark at how his Chosen had been so crassly treated when he was so vulnerable "-has been withdrawn. Samuel is no longer wanted, and neither is your continuation in his room."

"How dare you?" Galloway stepped towards him, sneering into his face. "You think you can just turn on again and start ordering around our President? I will do as ordered, and that is taking that traitor into custody!"

Basing his past interactions with the Prime was a mistake for Galloway to make. Turning his back on him in blatant disrespect was another. But his true mistake was lunging towards the fragile human on the bed. Clearly, the man was under the impression that those guarding Sam would be too concerned about their relations towards the White House to stop him.

With a guttural roar Orion snapped forward, caught a fistful of the Director's grey blazer and hauled him back. He pulled himself short of slamming the man into the wall, fingers whitening around the lapels of his jacket as he barred his teeth at the man.

"Samuel is my Consort." Orion hissed, his energon burning hotly through his veins. "He is owed every right I have-including diplomatic immunity. You touch him, and every member of my team will rise to his defence. Now," abruptly, he let go of the liaison, his fingers curling into fists "walk away before I drag you."

Galloway pushed back from the Prime the moment he was released in a flail of limbs, sending a demanding glare over to Lennox. The ex-major merely glared back at him as he tucked his pistol back into his holster.  
It wasn't until the man swept out of sight that the tension tightening Orion's muscles faded and he sank against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest brusquely.

"How is everything?" Ironhide placed a rough hand on his Prime's shoulder, tightening his grip when Orion only shook his head in response.

"The President is full of apologies, but he's shown his true colours. He won't be a firm ally if the tide turns against us." Orion huffed in an attempt to calm himself even as his teeth ground in frustration. "Flare-Up's stabilized and our wounded have been tended to. We'll be home in...a couple of days at most."

"It'll be okay, man." Will grinned at him, shrugging contentedly. "Things may be shit, but we're all standing."

Orion huffed out a tired laugh at that and brushed his knuckles against his chest. The movement drew Sam's eyes to the thick cotton which bandaged his chest, stark white against his bronze skin, scattered with fresh and faded scars. He gasped quietly and Orion's head snapped up, his eyes locking on Sam's and his face crumpling into relief.

"Samuel." His name was whispered as reverently as a prayer and his Chosen moved so quickly he was a blur, darting to his side in a few long strides. Sam reached up to touch Orion's cheek but jerked short, the handcuff staying his hand. Orion grit his teeth and muttered a quick "Thanks" when Will sprang into action, unlocking the cuffs with the key he had swiped from Galloway during his arrival.

The solider grinned at Sam, the relief at his consciousness evident in his now-lax shoulders. Beside him, Ironhide reached out and ruffled his hair, smiling lopsidedly at him. "Hey, kid. Good to see you awake."

Sam smiled weakly back at him, eyes darting back over to Orion. Ironhide chuckled at him and patted his unbroken leg, leading Will out, leaving the pair alone.

Sam's eyes never left Orion's as he circled the bed, carefully sitting on the edge. He reached out hesitantly, shuddering when his fingers brushed against the smooth leather of Orion's jacket.

"Oh Gods." The words were punched out of him and his fingers clutched the sleeve of his jacket as he stared at Orion, overwhelmed. "Oh Gods, you're really here."

Swallowing the hard knot in his throat, Orion covered Sam's hand with his own gently, flinching when a strangled sob caught in Sam's throat. "I'm here, darlin'. I'm..." He struggled for the words which normally came to him so easily in the face of his Chosen's- his _Consort's_ \- pain. "I'm sorry."

Sam's brow furrowed and lips trembled, halfway to forming words which he couldn't make sense of. "I-I don't understand."

"I'm sorry." Orion repeated, dropping his gaze to Sam's fingers, long and pale against his tanned and rough own "I never wanted to leave you."

"Orion..." Sam stared at his Chosen, lingering on the strong shoulders that believed they needed to hold the entire universe's cruelty. "You can't blame yourself for-" He choked on the word and pushed on, blinking away the shimmer shaking his vision. "The blame is on me-"

"No!" Orion jerked back sharply, lips parted in horror. "Primus, darlin', you can't be serious. It wasn't-none of this was your fault."

"He was after me, Orion." Shaking his head, a few tears escaped and slowly slipped over his cheeks as he looked away from Orion's frozen face, unable to bear to look at him as guilt turned his blood to sludge. "If he had just got what he wanted he wouldn't have-"

"No. No, _no_ , Samuel. Samuel, look at me." Spark ripping to pieces, Orion gently cradled Sam's face in his hands, ducking down to meet his gaze. "Hey, darlin', look at me."

Unable to deny him, Sam met his eyes, almost sobbing at the heartbreak in them.

"Primus, darlin', if he had...if he had took you from me I-" Orion rested his forehead against Sam's, sliding a broad palm around to cup the back of his neck. "I would have followed you anywhere, and if he hurt you..." He paused for a moment, squeezing his eyes shut in the hope it would block out the sound of Sam's pleas as he passed. "I would have paid him back slowly, wound for wound."

Sam was shaking in his hands, one of his own tightly gripping Orion's jacket while the other trembled over the bandage around his chest, fluttering like a butterfly's wing.

"Samuel, you..." He sighed a helpless laugh, carefully rubbing his thumb in small circles across the unburned skin on the back of Sam's neck. "You brought me back, darlin'. Look, feel this." He caught his fingers and brought his palm flat against his spark, allowing the human to feel its content pulses. "You did this, Samuel. My spark is pulsing because of you."

Finally, the sobs that were tied in his chest spilled over and he lunged forward, headless of his injuries. Orion caught him easily and he buried his face in Orion's neck, slender frame violently shuddering with the force of his sobs. Closing his eyes, Orion wrapped his arms around him and cautiously pulled Sam flush against himself, agonisingly mindful of the damage that had been done to his Chosen as he whispered an endless mantra of " _I love you_ " into his hair.

Sam pulled back to meet his eyes and Orion's spark twisted just a little more. His eyes were rimmed and shot with red as a glitter of tears slipped down his cheeks, slowly sliding over the scar which marked him as his other half. His Chosen stared at him, drinking in his holo with hungry eyes as if blinking would chase away his presence. As Sam shook his head he pushed Orion's jacket off his shoulders and frantically trailed his lips across his collarbone, gasping " _Never again_ "s against the pulse in his throat and following a faded scar up to his chin.

Lightly cupping Orion's face, another sob gasped out of him as Orion leaned into his hands, turning slightly to brush his own words of love against Sam's palm. Sighing shakily, he peppered quick kisses and whispers of " _Mine_ " across the bridge of his nose and over his sharp cheekbones, lingering with " _I love you_ " on the mark which proclaimed him as Prime. Finally, he hovered a mere inch away from Orion's lips, as if he was worried that this kiss would break some spell and Orion would be whisked away from him again in a splash of Energon.

As he sealed his lips over Orion's, he gently traced the wound that took Orion from him. While Orion crumpled to his knees behind his eyelids, his spark pulsed under Sam's hand, grounding him in the present where his Chosen held him close and whispered adoration between breaths.

Eventually the sickening scene seared behind his eyelids faded and the frantic energy thrumming through him faded into exhausted relief. Orion carefully sank back into the pillows and let Sam curl himself into his lap, his head tucked into Orion's neck as the holo gently traced glyphs of devotion on his arms. They laid there in quietude, lips occasionally finding each other's in a slow slide as they basked in the synchronised rhythm of their souls.

* * *

Soundwave stood shakily, optics darting around himself as he assessed the parking lot he had smashed into, causing the vehicles surrounding him to wail in alarm. Behind the lot, piercing sirens cut through the bustle of the small city, racing towards the scene of destruction. Snarling, the Decepticon scanned the nearest vehicle and slid off into traffic, swerving around the cop cruiser hurtling towards him.

The Mercedes-Benz slipped through the city seamlessly, engine purring as it sped towards the nearest metropolis, the nearest source of potentially precious information which could lead him to his younglings and the body of his brother-in-arms.

The engine snarled as he sped forward, starting the chase of his revenge.

He may have joined the Decepticons only under duress, but they had taught him enough to make those guilty suffer.

* * *

Mikaela slowly sat up from where she has been lying across Ratchet and Wheeljack, the inventor's arms wrapped tightly around her to stop her from rolling to the floor while Ratchet applied a patch of cotten gauze to the deep graze on her ankle. Wheeljack pulled her hair back as she sat with her back to him, tying the dark strands it into a messy bun with a smile. When she had been Iasthai and Wheeljack was Zdenko, he and Aesculapius had taken her in when she had ran with Proteus and Bořivoj, acting as something between uncles and elder brothers-it was no wonder she was more comfortable with the medic and his inventor than her own family.

Miles combed his fingers through Bumblebee's hair, leaning back against his windshield in faux-relaxation. His legs were curled up underneath him, shoes abandoned with the others' and Bumblebee's head on his lap and hand on his thigh; one would think that he had not a care in the world. But those surrounding him saw his eyes mirror their own: darting to the elevator every few minutes and back to their Prime's alt, as if trying to gaze past Cybertronian metal to see the figure curled up on the bed, the red tuft of hair peeking out from under the thick blanket and its steady rise and fall with the human's breaths which would set the crackle of darkness in their souls at ease.

Though their brother and leader was missing (called away to another blasted meeting to discuss the reinstatement of operations), having he they considered blood and the other half of their ruling pair nestled in their midst, warm and safe, partly soothed but in no way cured the itch to hover and dote over him.

As Orion had taken him directly into the sleeper section of his cabin when it became obvious his Consort needed rest yet could not without the bonds of his family humming near, none of then bar Will, Dijon and Ratchet had seen Sam awake: even then it was only for the brief moment of placing sensors on him to measure his levels or ensuring he was safe from the liaison. Each of their souls cried out for their brother, newly awakened memories demanding to hear his voice and feel his heartbeat after being forced to watch him fall at Terra Sanguinem in their first life, καταραμένη γη in their previous and Egypt in their new.

It had been the same when Orion had returned from his fight and Hunter had opened his eyes. They had swarmed him, hands and servos reaching out to brush fingers and digits against his warm metal to assure themselves he was truly back, choking praises as they hustled him towards First Aid to be assessed, unable to let their King and Prime and Brother leave their sights for even a moment. Once they had calmed they turned to their Medic, to trustworthy Aesculapius who was now dependable Ratchet, only to find their Consort had still not woken, his mind quiet to allow his battered body to heal.

That had been three long, worrying days ago and ever since they have stood near him, guarding him at every moment, watching and protecting the brother who had died for them too often. Even now Will and Jazz stood at Parade Rest at the Prime's doors, while Barricade and Sideswipe stood at the service elevator, the only way in or out of the large cargo bay while it wasn't docked, searching any who tried to walk in for anything that could hurt the comatose Consort.  
While he had been unconscious, their Prime had to be physically pulled away before he could leave his station at the side of the bed, Sam's cool hand clasped in his as Orion's head bowed, whispering prayers to Primus and the Guardians against Sam's hand.

Once the news that he had waken spread, relief cleared the sick storm from the hanger, but until they could embrace him they could not be satisfied.

As one, their heads snapped up when the elevator sprang to life. As the metal cage slid into sight and the doors clanged open, the petite woman who had drifted along their edges of their vision for the last three days stormed in, her shoulders and jaw tight as if she was marching into battle. Both Barricade and Sides moved to search her, but fell back in bemusement when Miles shook his head sharply. She faltered at the sight of the vehicles the humans and holos were perched on but soldiered on, trembling with fear and determination as she jolted to a stop in front of Miles.

"Where is he?"

Both Miles and Bee slid of Bee's hood and approached her warily, while the others looked on in apprehensive befuddlement.

"Uh, Sophie, right? Look, I know you're a bit confused-" Miles was sharply cut off, Sophie's voice cracking over his like a whip.

" _ **Where the hell is my brother?**_ "

Narrowing her eyes, Chromia edged forward, hand resting on the gun tied to her hip.  
"I think you're lost, miss. This is for family and friends only, and none of us know your brother-" her eyes narrowed on Miles when his head ducked, eyes darting over to Prime's recharging alt. She turned a mere fraction, not taking her eyes off the unfamiliar human, to glare at Miles "Do we?"

Before he could speak, Prime's door gently swung open and the blonde's voice caught in his throat.

Though his leg had healed thanks to Ratchet, he was still trembling lightly, unsteady on his feet. Sam's burnt hand was still bandaged and he was shockingly pale, but he was standing tall, chest rising and falling steadily and Consort glyph shimmering proudly.  
With aching care, Will gently helped Sam onto the floor, steadying him with a firm hand at the small of his back.

Taking a steadying breath, the Consort breezed forward with only the slightest tremor in his step, passing his people with a tense smile to stand in front of his sister.

"Sophie."

"Sam...Sam, you should come with me now."

Miles' stomach fell away as Sophie uncovered a pistol with a shaking hand, the head pointed towards Optimus' alt.  
All those resting in the cargo bay, from Miles to Wheeljack to Moonracer, lunged forward, only to jerk to a stop at the single, unwavering hand Sam raised in response. They trembled where they stood, torn between rushing to the Consort and holding his command.

"Sophie," Sam took a step towards Sophie, slipping into the gun's path (headless of the groans from behind him) and stretched his hand towards her slowly, eyes soothing. "I know you're confused-"

"Look, we can go now, those _things_ are asleep-" Sam flinched as several hisses rang out behind him, his own vicious fury at the word forcibly smothered.

"Sophie, I know you are confused, just put that away and let me explain-"

"Explain? _Explain_?! Explain **_what_** , Sam? You can't be defending those-" She stepped back in horrified disgusted, staring at her brother as he brazenly committed an unforgivable act in front of her very eyes. "You are. You're...you're with them."

Behind her, the elevator's doors slid open and Orion strode in, sharp eyes darting over Sam, hesitating at the standoff between the sibling duo.  
"Sophie-"

"You're siding with them!" Her voice rose to a hysterical shriek and she stumbled back another step, eyes shimmering with furious tears. "With those **_monsters_**!"

Sam's lips tightened and his anger spiked, but the plea in his eyes did not lessen. "Sophie, I know you're scared, okay? When I first saw them I- I was terrified." The raw honestly in his voice forced the First Arrivals flinching back, while pained understanding stole across Orion's face. "But they are _good_ , Soph. They are kind and loving and they are not him."

Bumblebee glanced at Orion and back to Miles, apprehensive dawning on his bright features. "Who's he talking about?"

Dread unfolded coldly in Miles stomach and he shook his head, pieces of an impossible jigsaw slowly coming to light. "I-I don't know."

Sophie's hand shook, but the gun slowly started to lower. She blinked furiously at her brother as he took another step forward, her voice trembling. "I can't get it out of my head." She admitted shakily, "when I close my eyes I see it, I hear it change, I see it's-it's-"

"Red eyes." Her brother finished for her, his own voice rough. Behind him, Jazz and Chromia swore viciously and Ratchet closed his eyes silently, sorrow etched in each line of his face. Sophie nodded quickly, lips forming a devastated half-smile.

"I can't lose you too. Please, Sammy. Please come home with me."

He stood on the brink of two chasms, on the highest point between the two. Step towards his blood and he would irrevocably lose his bonds; Step towards his bonds and he would forever lose his blood. He glanced back at those behind him, agonised eyes flitting over horrified faces. He glanced at his sister, stifling a sob as his father's eyes pleaded back at him. The second seemed to stretch an eternity. He closed his eyes, and fell.

"They are my home, Soph, they're my family too."

Sophie watched him for a long moment, her face utterly blank, before she slowly set the gun on the ground. When she looked at him again, he was looking at a stranger with eyes of ice.

"They killed our parents." She bit out quietly, her gaze unwavering from his. "They killed _you_." Behind her, Orion flinched and looked away, mouth tight in regret. "You stay with them, and you'll die, again. And I won't put _my_ family though that sort of pain and uncertainty." Her hand dropped to her stomach protectively. "You fell in the sand trying to save the world. You didn't get back up."

With that, she turned her back on him and walked into the elevator, brushing away a few traitorous tears as it rose.

Silence echoed around the cargo bay, stillness entered every nook and cranny as grief weighed heavily on every soul. For a long moment they mourned what their war had done to the statue in front of him, and with him grieved the loss of his family. Finally, the statute moved and the spell was broken.  
Miles and Mikaela rushed forward and drew short again, desperate to help but terrified to make their brother's hurt worse.

Instead they let him go to his Prime and whisper in his ear. The taller male nodded and wrapped his arm around his Consort's shoulders, guiding him towards the elevator which would take them to the deck of the aircraft carrier. Both Barricade and Sideswipe dropped their gazes as they approached, stepping to the side once they had opened and closed the doors.  
As they started to move upwards, Sam turned and buried his face in Orion's chest, fingers turning white as he gripped his jacket.

Orion could only wrap his arms around his lover, cup the back of his head gently and let him grieve the family that had again been torn away from him.


	53. Though Far Away, We're Still The Same

Sam shivered as he stood at the railing on the top deck, despite the warmth of Orion's thick hooded sweatshirt. He gazed out at the rolling ocean and sighed, tipping his head back to rest against Orion's chest. The holo was a solid warmth against Sam's back, his arms bracketed Sam's and his fingers curled over the human's, tethering the distracted Consort back to earth. Orion dropped a kiss on his forehead and waited silently as Sam looked back towards the see and sky, gently smoothing small circles on Sam's hands with his thumb.

"I seen my parents."

The movements stuttered for a moment before returning as Orion rested his chin on his shoulder, silently waiting for him to continue.

"They uh...they wouldn't have sent me to S7. They never wanted me to grow up like that." Neither mentioned the crack in his voice. He took a steadying breath and tried to blink away the tears stinging his eyes. "They're proud of me."

"As they should be" Orion murmured, lifting his hand from Sam's to gently brush back his fringe from his face, smiling when Sam turn to press a quick kiss against his palm.

"They really like you, you know?" The human laughed softly as the mech jerked and spluttered for a moment. "They think you're good for me."

At the Prime's self-deprecating snort, Sam turned in his arms and frowned when the mech refused to meet his eyes, leaning back to get a better look at his Chosen and effortlessly trusting Orion's arms to hold him up. "Orion?"

The Prime's eyes flicked back to Sam, darting to purple bruises trailing down the side of Sam's cheek and disappearing under the navy sweatshirt's collar. Understanding flashed in lightning eyes and Sam tilted Orion's chin up gently, forcing the Prime to meet his eyes.

"Don't do this, love. " He pleaded, lightly smoothing his thumb across Orion's Prime glyph as he cupped his cheek. "Don't blame yourself for something you couldn't prevent."

"You _died_." His Chosen hissed, jaw clenched tightly as he tore his eyes away. "You died and it was my-"

"You told me you didnt blame me for your...your death-" Sam interrrupted, still wincing over what he has caused

"-Of course I don't!-"

"Then you can't blame yourself for what happened to me when you were dead! Please, love..." he tucked his head under the Prime's chin, locking his fingers behind the holo's neck, infinity gentle so he did not aggravate his injuries. "Please don't take that path."

Orion looked down at his human for a long moment and shook his head, pulling him closer as he did so.

"Okay, darlin'" He buried his face in Sam's hair and just breathed, calming as the familiar ozone-and-lemon scent soothed his nerves. "Okay."

He was unable to deny his Consort anything. If his Consort asked him not to blame himself-as hard as it was not to- he wouldn't.

That doesn't mean he will not do anything and everything he can to make sure he was never in that situation ever again.

His arms gently tightened and his eyes hardened as he swore ' _Never again'_

* * *

_You're screwed._

_You're running faster than you ever have before, knowing that the moment you're caught is the moment your life's string is cut. Your legs scream out and your side protests, already bruising from when Downpour tackled you, but you push forward. The corridor you're running down is like a 'T': in front of you is a dead end and right is your doorway to already know from when you glanced in the monitors that the road to safety is blocked,which makes your path a hopeless one. Your only option is to turn straight back into your hunters' arms, or down the dead-end corridor, trapped like an injured animal waiting to be slaughtered._

_A hand grabs the back of your cloak and you twist away, throwing your knife behind you. It's a lucky throw, and as you tear down the corridor as fast as you can, the body following you thumps to the ground, still and silent. A klaxon cries above your head while red and yellow lights flash intermittently, dazzling your eyes and warning HQ that someone, somewhere, has fucked up._

_Fear makes your vision blur and you blink it away just in time to slam into your brother as he drops from the ceiling, the tile shattered on the floor and his hair thick with dust. Sam pulls you up by the back of your shirt and screams at you, the blood drying on his check shocking against the horrified pallor of his skin._

_"I told you to get out! I told you I'd hold them off!"_

_"I tried!" You argue back, refusing to let your voice crack. "I got cornered, I told you to go on!"_

_Sam's lips curl into a furious snarl as he shakes you, his eyes wild and livid. "I'm not leaving you behind!"_

_You want to argue back, but there's footsteps echoing down the corridor, jeers bouncing off the walls. They're walking slowly, they know there's nowhere for you to run._

_You're thirteen and you're going to die here, put down like a mad dog._

_Your brother must see something change in your face because he pulls you into his arms. You bury your face in his neck, try to hide from the world and refuse to cry. You are a Beta Elite, you will face death with a smirk and make your family proud._

_Your brother squeeze you tightly for a moment and pulls back, a curious sheen in his eyes. He presses a kiss to your forehead and lets go of you, taking a step back._

_"Run little brother. Run, and don't look back."_

_You haven't got time to speak, to_ _**think** _ _before he's spinning on his heel and sprinting towards the echoing voices. There's a scream locked in your throat as you run after him, watching him flip himself over the crowd of black at the top of the corridor._

_You are forgotten as they scream, spinning and grappling desperately at the one who betrayed their cause and worse, betrayed his blood._

_Your body moves robotically and you run towards them, run towards your brother as he is circled. They don't care for you now, you are a fly on their windscreen, a beggar in a doorway. The corridor to freedom is clear now and you freeze at its mouth, staring at your brother merely metres away from you. His daggers are gone, there's blood on his face and neck and clothes, but his eyes burn brightly. He tilts his head at you and lunges at the nearest elite, tackling her to the floor._

_In the mad frenzy he disappears from sight, buried under black and betrayal and blood. Your mind snaps and you're down the corridor before you realise you've moved, standing at the exit in horror. Through the gaps between legs, Sam's face peeks out. One eye is already swollen shut but the other focuses on you, He smiles at you one last time, a smile that's bright and bloody and screams of pride._

_He vanishes from view and screams, then all you can hear is a few agonised groans. One of the Elite's turns and finds you staring, frozen._ _He runs towards you and you're gone, a cowardly child lost in the dusk-_

_Who runs through sand and blood, screaming. You fall to your knees and are thankful you haven't ate in a day, as the stench of burnt flesh makes your stomach heave. Your hands flutter uselessly across him, there's nothing you can do, he's gone gone **gone**._

_Again your brother bleeds for you. Again you were not strong enough. Again you failed him._

_Empty eyes stare up at you, again your brother smiles at your safety as he burns._

_You're begging and sobbing and no-one answers. The Gods are silent, the medics are silent, your brother is silent._

_The smell of copper crawls down your throat, Sam still smiles, your hands are slick and scarlet and-_

Miles scrambled out of Bumblebee's embrace and threw himself into the washroom just off the storage bay, knees cracking on the cold tile as he heaved uselessly, stomach already empty and protesting angrily. Clambering back to his feet he stumbled over to the sink, throwing water on his face and washing his hands, arms trembling as he tried to wash off the phantom feeling of dried blood.

He wasn't sure how long he stood there, holding the sink as if he would collapse if he let go, but eventually a warm body slid up behind him and wrapped their arms around his waist.

Bumblebee pressed a soft kiss against his neck, eyelashes brushing across his skin like a butterfly's kiss. When the ground stopped lurching under his feet, he let Bee ground him, wrapping his fingers around his Chosen's wrists, squeezing gently in a silent ' _Thank you'_. They both snapped around at the sound of a throat being cleared.

_Bahadur pulled him up from where he has fallen, dragging him forward. The air was thick with smoke and screams, and through the haze he could just make out the flashes of light and clashes of metal in the centre of the battlefield, where Abaddon and Hunter and Proteus and Tyrik spun around and through each other in a deadly dance_

Will grimaced when Miles stumbled back, shaking his head and blinking quickly to try and rid the imprint on his eyes. "Yeah, that's been happening a lot recently." The major shrugged. "They've been popping up each time we see one of us, but they're fading now."

Despite himself, Miles quirked a grin at the Ranger. "So. Past princes and reincarnated rejects?"

Will merely rolled his eyes in response at the blonde, struggling to conceal his own grin. "I had a normal life until I showed up at that damn dam! I blame this on you!"

Snorting, the two blondes followed the Ranger back into the hanger, blinking at their friends and family as flashbacks dazzled them. It took almost an hour before they were able to even _look_ at their Prime and Consort as they sat on the leader's hood, Orion gently draping himself over his Chosen from behind, his chin on Sam's shoulder as his Consort cradled the new sleeping sparkling. The sparkling had been wary of the other Cybertronians, clinging to Miles, Mikalea and Bee any second he wasn't in Sam's arms. He had slowly began warming up to the Prime while Sam was unconscious, but still flinched if the Prime moved to fast, bringing an uncharacteristically dark look into the mech's eyes and a softness which spoke of a shared experience.

Arranging themselves in front of their leading couple, the reincarnations threw themselves together, couples entwined and siblings propped up against each other. For a few minutes they simply breathed, curled up together as the bonds that tied them purred in contentment.

Eventually their peace had to be broken. As much as they wanted to just lie there together, plans for the future must be made. Fig (who's memories as Kevork ended with a crack to the head at Terra Sanguinem) broke the silence with a probing "So...what do we do now?"

Orion glanced over his people, at his inner circle who stood by him time and time again, who waded through sand and water and blood for him and fell for him in a heartbeat. Their deaths, different each time and no less devastating, flickered in front of his eyes. His brother's pained purple optics burned into his own, his home in flames time and time again, his-

The breath he did not know he was holding escaped as Sam lightly squeezed his wrist, carefully twisting to press a kiss against his chin. Forcibly shaking himself, the Prime nodded at his companions with a smile that didn't quite meet his eyes.

"We should be home in a few hours. Once we are, we train. Ironhide, Will, I want you to do your best at recording our old fighting styles and incorporating them with our new. Prowl will document everything we remember, lay out the paths we have taken before and, with Barricade and Elita-1, will predict where our future might lead."

The ex-enforcer nodded, absently scratching the brutal burn on his wrist and freezing sheepishly when Mikaela hissed at him furiously.

"Mikaela and Miles will complete their medic training, along with Arcee." The purple haired holo perked up, bubbling under the Prime's gentle smile. "We can never have enough medics in times like this."

"Jazz, I want you to maintain links with Skywarp. Find out just how many Decepticons joined under their own will, and how many have developed erratic behaviour."

"You think ol' Don is controlling people again?" Jazz leaned forward, dark brow lightly wrinkled. "How are we meant to fix them if he is? Last time we tried to cure them-"

He broke off, mouth twisting like he was trying to control the urge to be sick as both the Prime and the Consort flinched.

The only time they had done that was in their last life, where they had somehow used the Matrix ( _'The_ _Renascentia_ ', their minds whispered) and The Hum (' _The Allspark_ ') together to cleanse those around them. How they actually did it was still a blur. Something within them had urged them to join hands and, somehow, the energy they controlled exploded outwards, banishing the demons Abaddon had hid inside innocents. They had also burned to death in agony as the energy blasted through them, leaving nothing but destroyed shells behind.

"Wheeljack?" The inventor's head snapped up to meet the Consort's curious gaze, his eyes clouded as if he was listening to something silent to all but him. "What happened to the remnants of the Sun Harvester?"

"Hound, Moonracer and Andrew collected everything they could find." The holo, frowning lightly. "It's in the other hanger under the Suits lock and key until we get home, why?"

The human shook his head slightly, glancing down at the sparkling in his lap and blinking in confusion. "No reason. Just, when we get it, keep it safe. For now."

He gazed blankly for a few more moments before seemingly to fall back to earth, shaking his head slightly and curling back into his Prime. Orion cradled him gently, the worried crease in his brow deepening as his human paled and trembled lightly. He locked eyes with Ratchet and the medic rose to his feet to check on him, only to slip in front of him as the elevator rattled to life, opening with an echoing clang. Three suited men stepped out, hair exact to regulation standards and jackets doing nothing to hide the holsters attached to their hips.

"Prime, Lennox, Epps, Lancaster and Witwicky: You're needed for debriefing."

"Samuel cannot go." Ratchet immediately snapped, eyes narrowed at the humans. "He still must rest-"

"Witwicky will attend, his presence is required." The suits turned to make their way back to the elevator, dismissing the medic coolly.

"He will not be going." Ironhide growled, arms tightly crossed across his chest. "Didn't ya hear, Kid needs to rest."

The suits slowed to a stop as one turned, lip curling as he addressed the Warrior. "Witwicky's already gotten his freedom, he will at least attend this meeting. His presence is required.

Prime's jaw clenched and he moved to speak, only to be silenced by Sam's hand on his arm. The human deftly slipped from his hold and onto the hanger floor, landing with a suppressed flinch as his leg, though healed, flared angrily. Orion quickly followed him, dropping beside him and gently steadying him by holding his waist as he carefully depositing the sleeping sparkling into Mikaela's waiting arms.

Sam pressed a light kiss to the sparkling's helm, his hair shadowing his face. He exhaled lightly and flicked his hair out of his eyes as he straightened, a politician's smile sliding into place and eyes locking tightly. The Prime offered his arm and the human took it gratefully. Together they swept gracefully out of the hanger, Will, Miles and Epps following them closely, guarding their backs which were surely about to be targeted by blood-thirsty Suits.

"Do you think we can do it this time?" All eyes shot to Mikaela and she straightened, Hound's arm around her shoulder tightening at the quiet desperation in her voice. Those called for debriefing stilled, turning to look at their sister in arms. "Do you think we can really end it?"

Sam and Orion's eyes darted to each other, silently communicating in a way that only comes with _lifetimes_ of knowing the other more than they know themselves. For an agonising minute their inner circle held their breaths, partner's fingers woven and siblings pressed together.

As one, the couple turned to look at their family and like the sun breaking over the horizon, slowly smiled.

"It's going to be difficult, and at times almost impossible." The Prime warned, despite the sudden brightening in his eyes

"But we _are_ going to stop him." Suddenly Sam grinned, lighting up brilliantly. "Abaddon and his minions will burn, and we will shine so brightly we will never fade."

* * *

Sam smiled as the sea breeze washed over him from where he stood Optimus's palm, the salty breath of wind blowing the lingering irritation from the debriefing from his mind, as well as the promise of a follow-up that would involve the entirety of NEST. He smiled down at the sparkling on his hip, the still-unnamed little mechling staring around him with wide optics.

Oprimus's optics were soft as he gazed down at both of them and stood up, roving his optics over Diego Garcia, spark humming serenely as his mechs and femmes rushed towards the port, tackling their mates and siblings and friends who had been in Egypt. A delight shriek snapped the couple's attention and Orion quickly dropped onto one knee as Quickfire hurled herself at his frame, scrambling into his open palm to throw herself at her daddy and stare up at her generator with wide, wet optics. Crooning softly, the mech brought his family to his spark, gently stroking his thumb over Quickfire's helm as she cuddled into her parents and blinked up at the little blue mech hiding in Sam's hold.

"This is going to be your little brother, baby." Sam smiled at her, almost melting as his daughter carefully hugged the other sparkling, who slowly unfurled from the defensive huddle he had curled himself into.

As he hugged Ariel with his free arm and his nieces and nephews squealed as they threw themselves at his leg, jumping over each other to hug him, he felt peace.

Even though Abaddon was still out there and things could only surely get worse, for now, he could intake easily.

* * *

"How are the developments coming along?"

The Elite glanced up from the bubbling green liquid and back at the code flashing across the computer, hesitating before he timidly met Banachek's eye. "Very well sir. Your great-grandfather's notes are very extensive. The supplies however...we won't be able to create a large quality. Two does, three at most."

"Hmm." Banachek started at the liquid for a long moment before his eyes widened slightly. "If you derive an antidote, an...antivirus, how much of the liquid will be needed to do so?"

The Elite bustled for a moment before returning to the Director with his notes, flicking through them quickly. "If you want the virus alone, you will have enough to permanently down two NBEs and an NBT. If you want a cure as well, sir, you will only be able to produce a virus and cure for one of each."

The Director smirked and nodded, pausing to glance at the venomous liquid before he left. "They must only consume this and then the cure?"

The Elite nodded hurriedly, flinching as the director laughed and left, still chuckling as he strode down the corridor of their temporary base. He glanced down at the photos in his hand and shook his head, crumpling the picture of Lighting sitting in NBE 7's palm, an unidentified 'youngling' (which appeared to be much like the NBTs) in his arms.

"You should have stayed dead, nephew. You should have stayed dead because when I'm done with you, you will wish you had."


	54. Let Go Of Your Fears And Your Ghosts

It had all been going so well.

They had all changed out of their ratty and blood-stained clothes and converged in the 'Rec Room', the TV switched to one of those non-stop music channels and Sam had been hissed and squawked at when he tried to slip through the door which led to the small kitchen just off the Rec Room to make food, the bemused Consort quickly and carefully hustled onto a cosy two-seater plumped with cushions beside his Prime. Quickfire had curled up in Orion's arms, watching with sleepy optics as Dew tuck himself under Arial's arm and Jazz babble exaggeratedly to Oz, her helm resting over the Prime's spark as its gentle pulse lulled her into sleep.

Their new sparkling had been leaning against Sam's side, optics darkening as he dozed, only to brighten suddenly as he forced himself awake, shaking his tiny frame as he did so. When his optics darkened once more and he started to tilt away from the human's side, the holo reached over, ready to steady the sparkling before he toppled over and collided with the holo's thigh.

The sparkling flinched back violently when his heavy optics locked on Orion's hand, pushing himself against Sam's side as he stared at the mech with terrified optics. The Prime had frozen, his sharp intake pulling Sam away from his conversation with Prowl. His brow furrowed at how the sparkling seemed to want to disappear into him and he placed a calming palm on his back. When he met his Chosen's eyes, something sharp and jagged seems to strike his very core.

Something had splintered behind the mech's eyes, something raw and poisoned and as Sam reached out in an attempt to comfort him; he withdrew, his eyes were blank and he carefully smiled at him in a distant way which he had not seen since the Prime had touched his knee the night Midnight and Overcast had appeared on base a lifetime ago.

The others did not call him on it. Perhaps they didn't see the façade. Perhaps they did not want to push him mere days after his death. Perhaps they were too cautious, too worried of saying the wrong thing and pushing the mech deeper into the shell they only recently saw him emerge from. Whichever it was, they carried on, all confident in one shared truth: His Consort would comfort him and coax the mech behind the Prime back into the light.

When they scooped up their recharging sparklings a few hours later and made their way back into their homely apartment, the Prime remained distant. He still drew Sam close, his arm winding around his waist as he pulled him flush against his side. He still brushed a kiss against the human's uneven hair at Sam's murmured relief at being home again and chucked at his delight at the photos hanging proudly on the walls (with a mental note not to let him see a mirror until Arcee could fix the disaster Ratchet wielded when he was cleaning and patching the head wound gained from the rocks scattered amount the burning Egyptian sand).

Yet he still remained detached, his eyes flickering every now and then as they made their way into Quickfire's room, as if he was battling with something twisted in the minefield which was one's mind.

Quickfire sighed in her slumber as Sam drew the covers over her shoulder, smoothing down the galaxy-printed duvet. He bent down to press a light kiss against her helm, breath hissing through his teeth as his ribs stung. Though the bandages and plasters had been removed by Ratchet his body still protested; open wounds may have knitted to angry scars and breaks set into deep bruises, but every injury still ached and would for weeks to come. He leaned back into Orion's hand as the holo steadied him as he leant down when Quickfire fussed, gently catching as failing arm and tucking the soft Kiara plushy under the cover with his sparkling. The Prime smiled as his sparkling rolled over, clutching her lioness tightly against her spark-chamber and slurring nonsense under her breath.

He followed his Consort to where he was standing against the other hastily assembled bed's guard rail, shoulders stiff as he gazed down at the sparkling sleeping uneasily there. His fingers curled over the top of the rail as his sparkling flinched in his recharge, scraped knees hugged against a spark chamber which was dulled from the slaps of angry metal. He closed his eyes as Sam fluttered his fingers and sent sparks of azure dancing over the sparkling's spark chamber, missing how the tight ball he had curled himself into loosened, washed by the warmth of fiery protection and quiet adoration.

It had been building for months, from the moment Sam wasn't there to tangle their fingers together and ground him when his past and present became too much because he may be a Prime and he may be Cybertronian but he's not a _machine_ and he's been holding it back so _desperately_ behind lock and key but it's all breaking free and his breath is strangled in his throat and instead of putting his sparklings to sleep with the one shining light in the vast universe which completes and protects his spark instead a _proud frame which could only look hulking to him loomed in front of his closed eyes, arm raised as he pleaded forgiveness as his energon cube spilled across the floor, the sickly violet splattered across his pedes as the arm came down again and again and **again** -_

He gasped, coughing and trembling as he blinked in confusion at the icy water slicking his spiky hair flat against his forehead as Sam knelt in front of him with worried eyes, his hands gently resting on the mech's soaked camo-clad knees. He was folded on the shower tray, back pressed into the corner and knees pulled against his spark chamber. Water rushed somewhere close but the shower head stayed dry, save a few fat drops still dripping as if it had be abruptly slammed off.

"What..." He shook his head sluggishly, blinking water from his eyes as he stared at his Consort "What happened?"

"You...I'm not sure." Sam admitted as he drew his hands towards him and gently uncurled each trembling finger from the fists they had tightened into, swiping away the azure energon which sluggishly bled from the crescent moon marks his nails left. "You went still, it was like you weren't breathing. Then you bolted in here and must have hit the shower on as you came in."

His forehead creased and he glanced down at Orion's hands, turning them over and smoothing his thumb across them. "Do you want to come out yet?"

Orion flinched and stared at the terracotta tiles determinedly, humiliation souring his throat and lining his stomach with lead. Sam bit his lip as Orion refused to meet his eyes, fury and heartbreak burning brightly in them as he gently kissed his Prime's knuckles and crawled into the shower beside him, headless of the water still lining the tray. He settled beside his Prime and waited until the holo curled into him, resting his head against his shoulder and loosely wrapping his arm around his Consort's waist.

Slowly Sam wrapped his arm around Orion and gently stroked his hair and tangled his fingers with the hand rested over his heart, water clinging to his slacks as he held his Chosen tightly, his arms uselessly trying to shelter him from the horrors of his past. Orion forced himself taut in an effort to stop himself from trembling as the strong persona crumpled as he saw himself in the child that is now their own.

Sam can only press his lips against his soaked raven hair and whisper the words from a faded memory, of comforting arms and the crash of thunder and lulling fall of rain.

"Carry on my wayward son,  
There'll be peace when you are done.  
Lay your weary head to rest,  
don't you cry no more"

It's a long time before he can speak, his normally confident voice halted and tight and detached as he explained the long year he had spent with his _biological_ generator when he had been accepted into Iacon's school for the Gifted and he had tracked their family down. How he had demanded his youngest son stay with him, how his Carrier had pleaded for them to be left alone and how, when his true generator had been slyly threatened with the enforcers (He had been pulling too much extra time when Max was ill, had been picking up a few extras jobs that were not designated for his caste and if he had been dragged before a court filled with Meinkus's credits he would have be _crucified_ ) and-

And he had left the room and returned with a bag, kissed his weeping carrier and disappeared into the rain with the mech's servo tight on his shoulder.

Sam stayed silent as his voice shook when he recounted the sleepless nights and exhausted school days which followed the mech's drunken outbursts; the dents left in armour for being to quiet or being too loud or talking back or not saying enough or-; the agonising relief which followed Maximus (fresh from his year in the Warrior Academy) blasting the lock on his bedroom door and slamming it open with pitfire optics and carrying him past their sire's drunken and cursing heap.

He talked until everything was out in brutal technicolour, until his trembles turned to shivers and the water in eyes was only that dripping from his hair. There was a long, agonising silence where he closed his eyes and knew _This is it this is too much it's not the war it's not his past it's me that breaks what we have just like before just like with-_

And Sam pressed as kiss against his hair it's only then he realised the human had been shaking as he held him, his eyes wet and wide and furious when Orion met them. Gently he cupped the back of the Prime's neck and brushed a kiss across his forehead before he stood, smiling sadly as his Chosen followed in a daze. Slowly Sam led him out of the shower and further into the bathroom, halting beside the - _so that's where the water was -_ filled bath.

Orion stood stupefied as Sam unbuttoned his sopping shirt and slid it off, brushing his lips over the scarred and dented metal disk his spark hid behind; along the line of his throat and collar bones. His jeans went next, Sam's deft fingers unbuttoning them as his lips lightly dragged across the thin scar slashed across the holo's chin. The holo hilted his head, resting his forehead against his Consort's as he was carefully stripped, his dark lashes painting darker shadows across his cheeks and highlighting the sleepless bruises hiding underneath his eyes.

Sam shucked out of own clothes in moments and Orion sighed in bliss as he was guided into the tub, Sam slipping in behind him and immediately threading his fingers through his Chosen's hair. Orion allowed his head to fall back against Sam's chest expose the vulnerable expanse of his neck, eyes sliding shut as the human twisted to smile a kiss against his pulse.

"I'm sorry you had too see that." The mech forced out, eyes firmly sealed. "It won't happen again-"Orion blinked in surprise as his mouth was gently covered and he strained to catch Sam's soft gaze.

"You wake me when I have nightmares and talk me down from panic attacks. Every person we have spoke to within the last few hours has had moments where they cannot breathe because of what they have seen."  
Sam removed his hand only lift the washcloth that was sitting on the sill that ran along the wall the bath was flush against and began to gently smoothing circles across the holo's arms and chest.  
"You're not a machine, sweetheart. You may be a Prime and you may believe it is your job to be collected and in control at all times; but I am your Consort and it is my honour to to talk you down and comfort you when you falter."

Letting go of the cloth he cupped his hands and trickled warm water onto Orion's hair and then carefully worked shampoo into the still-shockingly short hair.

The soft circle massaged against his scalp lulled the Prime into a doze and he drifted in Sam's arms, only emerging when he was gently guided up and sat on the edge of the bath, wrapped in a soft green towel as his hair was carefully dried with another.

As the human finished lightly untangling the holo's hair with his fingers Orion's hand shot out and gently wrapped around Sam's wrist, lightly pulling him into a soft kiss when he ducked down, a small smile curling his lips as the human brushed their noses against each other in a quick Eskimo kiss.

"Thank you." He halted the human's protests with another quick kiss, only pulling back enough to meet his eyes. "I know you can't comprehend doing anything else but others have seen me like this." The smiled turned bitter for a quick second before it was shook away as the Prime stood up and gently tugged the human back into their bedroom, face turned away as he finished, "They didn't respond as you did".

Sam violently squashed the urge to snarl, free hand tightening into a fist for a moment before he forced it to relax so he could follow his Prime to the double bed, wrinkling his nose at the holo as he laughed at the reverence in his eyes as he smoothed the mattress.

"Hush, this is a thousand times nicer than what I was sleeping on for the last few months."

They tumbled into bed, nothing but skin and bones and blood and energon and he drifted as Sam smoothed his fingertips and lips over every scar reverently. There was no haste, no urge to turn this quiet moment into anything else. Orion savoured it as he drifted into recharge, slipping into dreams with the drag of Sam's lips and the whispered adoration which promised a future he never thought he would have

* * *

The next morning dawned early with shy smiles and stolen kisses when getting dressed. Orion ducked out early to respond to a challenge from his adoptive brothers-

( _"Too tired?" The holo snorted and Sam hid a laugh as he tossed his head, the picture of Quickfire in one of her 'rants'. "Are they implying I'm getting old?!"_

_The human nodded sagely, stifling another laugh as the Prime huffed and grabbed his training gear, pausing to drop a kiss against Sam's cheek as he rushed out to beat the scrap out of the two_ _impudent mechs.)_

-while Sam gathered up their sleepy-opticed sparklings after lazing in bed for a while and whisked them back to the Rec Room. Of course, this all happening on their first morning back on base as well as the lingering exhaustion from being, well, _dead_ , left the human a little slower than usual.

"Sam?"

The redhead jerked as he pulled his gaze from the coffee he cradled as he sat on the Rec Room's kitchen counter, QuickFire and the new sparkling playing with Megabite and Sony around his feet. He smiled sheepishly as Mikaela ruffled his sleep-mused hair and turned his gaze to Prowl, cheeks dusty pink at the amused stare of the holo and the light laughter of Chromia and Elita-1. "'Sup, Prowl?"

"Some letters have been cleared for you, would you like me to bring them in?"

The Consort blinked his brother, the blonde shrugging and eyes widening as Jazz followed the SiC with a stuffed mail bag and dropped it on the table, thick envelopes spilling out.

Sam quickly slipped off the counter and started flicking through the thick envelopes, eyebrows rising at the quality of the paper, the elegant script baring his name and the thick wax seals which all seemed strangely familiar.

Taking the letter opener Miles handed him he slit open the first letter barring the seal of a dear's head with its antlers garlanded with flowers, his eyes widening as they flicked across the page. Silently he passed it to Miles as he opened another, setting both the letter and the slim knife on the table as its contents mirrored the first. Slowly, his brother met his wide eyes, spluttering useless for a moment.

"I…I guess they saw the broadcast with…with Abaddon." The Reincarnations all flinched, the lightness of the morning dissipated with the heavy reminder. Miles shook his head and soldiered on, forcing his voice light again. "They saw it and realised-"

"-I wasn't dead?" Sam snorted, shuffling a few more envelopes to hide the shaking of his hands. "Well they are a little late to be making requests." He muttered under his breath, the fondness in his voice betraying his attempt at sounding aloof. The others in the kitchen shuffled awkwardly as they set about making breakfast as quietly as possible, darting glances over to the quite Consort who sporadically sighed or snorted at whatever he was reading

He ducked down to press a kiss against his sparklings' helms as Jazz gathered them up and swooped back into the main area of the Rec Room to play with the other sparklings and quickly made himself a cup of coffee, before collapsing back on his chair and eyeing the letters with apprehension.

Before he could reach for another letter Orion spilled through the door with Dijon and Bumblebee, all three of them laughing and pushing against each other, the exhilarated shine in their eyes the tell-tale of a good sparring session.

Still chuckling Orion twisted to give his Chosen a slow kiss, both of them grinning as he pulled away and darted another quick kiss. The heavy fog that had infiltrated the room was burned away at the appearance of the holos as they grappled like puppies over Mikaela's homemade smoothies, the girl blushing at their praises.

"What's all that, darlin'?" Orion laughed as he tipped his head back to drain the last of the smoothie, sharing a bemused look with Jazz as Sam replied with a preoccupied 'Proposals'. "What sort of proposals? Treaties?"

As he gave Elita-1 a quick one-arm hug he stretched up to grab one of the cereal bars Will always had tucked away in the top cabinet, pointedly ignoring Ironhide's snide warnings of the army captain's CHECK wrath.

"Marriage." The Prime nodded distractedly, grinning when his fingers closed around the oat and honey bar-

Wait

He rocked back on his back heel and pivoted, the thick silence of the kitchen (bar Sam and Miles' quite mutters or snorts as they moved through the envelopes) sinking into every pore.

"Who's marriage?" He forced a smile even as his forehead creased, aware of every eye darting between him and his Consort.

Sam snorted again, throwing another letter on the steadily growing pile. "Me. Gods I'm going to have to sit and respond-what?"

Sam snapped his gaze to Miles as he hissed like an angry cat, pulling the lighter Chromia was about to light the stove with out of her numb grasp and letting the letter go up in smoke.

"Fucking Abel."

Sam tilted his head to the side, nose crinkled in a way the Prime would find adorable if his energon was moving so slowly through his holo. "Of Washington?"

"Germany." Miles bit as he angrily ripped open another letter, still spitting under his breath.

Sam's expression cleared even as his nose turned up in disgust. "Ew, he was always a perv."

"Well he hasn't changed." muttered Miles. At this the Prime snapped into action to dart to Sam's side, gaze flicking between the letters and the human.

"Why are you getting these?"

Sam spat laugh, throwing his head back to smile up at the Prime with an icy smile. "Because I may be a traitorous whore, but I'm still a pretty whore with an even prettier name."

That seemed to snap the silence as it broke in an explosion of noise, denials and threats springing from every set of lips until the Prime had to call order as he lifted one of the envelopes, turning it over in his hands. He knew better than to argue with his Consort about this in front of their people, where he would only throw up shields and false smiles. It was better to wait until they were alone, until the human felt safe enough to let those walls melt.

"What are you going to do with these?" He forced his voice aloof and only through eons of master his reactions stopped him from audibly sighing with relief as Sam replied firmly

"Reject them. Politely of course, it wouldn't be done to blacken the family name even more." He trailed off in an acidic mutter and the holo nodded. Only pausing to drop a kiss against his Chosen's forehead he made his way out of the kitchen, only to silently slide back it with a roll of his eyes as he forgot his cereal bar. His return went unnoticed as Miles laughed at whatever Sam had said and snarked back,

"I don't know, your first rejection was spot on."

"Who was that?" Ironhide's voice was light, but there was a hardness in his eyes and the sports bottle held in his hand began to crinkle in his fist. Not including his Chosen and sparklings (because Primus knows there is no truer tie) the mech's loyalty may be first to his Prime, but there was no doubt that the human who had tore through Mission City was a very close second.

"Galloway."

The Prime's lips curled into a tight snarl and his fingers tightened around the handle of the door he had just shut. It was only when the paper Prowl had been holding began to crinkle did he carefully put it down and crossed his arms tightly, attempting to blink away the fire in his eyes. "When was this? Recently?"

A snarl built in the back of Orion's throat at the thought of that rat even _looking_ at his Chosen. He was startled at Sam's laugh and how the human lightly patted his Second's arm fondly.

"Gods no! I wasn't even here when he arrived and I haven't seen him other than when I woke up in the ship."

The Prime started to relax and the others in the kitchen loosened their stance, relief relieving the tightness in his spark at the thought-

"It was back when I was an Elite"

Orion's vision blurred around the edges. His spark pluses echoed in his ears. Iron seems to line his mouth. He took as steadying breath and, out of Sam's line of sight, held up a single hand to halt any sound from anyone in the tiny room. Clueless both boys worked on, evenly diving the letters into two growing piles. Orion quickly gestured at his younger brother and the blonde nodded, his cerulean eyes uncharacteristically cold.

"Sam, how old were you when he propositioned you?" He forcibly forced his voice even as his jaw tightened, frame visibly taunt as he held himself back.

Sam leaned back in his chair as he contemplated, biting at the corner of his mouth. "Just after Esme's anniversary…but before Jason lost it…ah-"He shot a look at Miles, narrowing his eyes at him. "What year was that?"

"It was the year you got Unspeakable so that was…ninety-nine? Two thousand?"

"Yeah…" Sam nodded, turning the date over in his head as he lifted another letter "Yeah that sounds about right."

"You were ten?" Sam was so distracted by the letter he was reading-' _Hey, it's cousin will! He wants to catch up, no proposal thank the gods-_ ' he didn't notice the stiffness of Chromia's voice and nodded, head jerking up and half rising in concern as the bowl Mikaela slammed on the counter shattered at the bottom, leaving her holding just the intact rim, her back to her brother.

"Did he touch you?"

"What? No, I mean-"Sam shook his head at Dijon as he rose out of his chair, blinking in surprise at the blank expression the holo returned.

"Bro, he tried to force his tongue down your throat." Miles reminded his brother, his own nose wrinkling and brow furrowing before he barked a sharp laugh. "Man, Tom and Jason lost it didn't they?"

Chucking Sam nodded, his voice tinged with quiet regret. "Yeah, they threw him out of base so fast he didn't even get to medical."

"He deserved the broke wrist." Miles muttered darkly, the envelope in his hand crinkling.

"Well he didn't get much further, did he?" Sam snapped as he made his way over to his sister, "So let it go"

He rolled his eyes at his brothers mutinous "Not from a lack of trying"

His control which kept him from storming out or grabbing his Consort finally snapped and Orion's vision bled red. He twisted where he stood and turned the door handle, opening it with a controlled pull.

Sam looked over at the sound of the door and furrowed his brow, stopping before he could reach his sister. "Sweetheart? I didn't see you there, is something wrong?"

After a long steadying breath the holo turned to meet his Chosen's worried eyes, smiling fixedly. "Galloway has just arrived darlin', I have to go meet him."

He flinched. The human flinched and the mech's energon roared, processor and spark in perfect sync as he watched his Chosen pass off the flinch in a way that would have been unnoticeable had the holo not known the slim body better than he knew his own.

"Of course, I have to finish replying to these anyway." His laugh would have almost passed for genuine if his fingers didn't twitch through various guitar chords, a tell of nervousness that the Prime had only began to pick up on. "What will you be discussing?"

"Well, our original agenda has been discarded." The mech admitted sheepishly.

"Oh?"

"Yes. Now I'm going to cut off Galloway's fingers and rip out his tongue." Orion smiled, his eyes filled with pitfire as he strode through the door.


	55. It's A Family Affair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Note: Nibling is a nephew or niece

"Mornin' Optimus." Barricade nodded as the Prime's holo strode past, the door to the kitchen area swinging shut behind him.

The Prime nodded back at him, smiling slightly as Frenzy squealed in delight at being reunited with his cousins, hugging Ravage's neck tightly while Lazerbeak perched on his shoulder and clicked in excitement. "Good Morning Barri-"

The kitchen door swung open again and the Prime nodded at the Enforcer, lengthening his stride as his Consort darted into the room.

"Mornin' Sa-" Barricade's mouth snapped shut as the Consort grabbed the Prime's arm and swung himself in front of the holo, palms pushed against his shoulders.

"Orion. Let's talk about this." Sam pleaded, raising his hands as Orion drew closer. "I know you're pissed, but think about what you're doing."

Fig scrambled upwards, sharing a befuddled look with Barricade and blinking in surprise as the kitchen area abruptly emptied, the contents brimming and bristling with fury. Anger radiated off the Bots and Will while Miles stumbled behind them, face torn between an expression of 'oh shit' and 'my bad'. Fig's head snapped back to the Prime and his Consort as the holo came to stop, held in place by the light touch of Sam's hands against his chest.

" _Please_ , Orion." Whatever was wrong, Sam was growing desperate as the steel glint in the holo's eye refused to fade. "You're acting rashly-"

"Oh, this isn't rash darlin'" The Prime insisted, smile growing tight as he lifted his hands in surrender. "I've wanted to do this for the last few months, ever since you told me he helped your uncle and cousin in their...interrogation." His lip curled, expression shifting from 'forced calm' and into 'burning fury' before being forcibly smoothed out. "This has just cemented my actions."

Sam hesitated for a moment, blinking in surprise. "Oh well...well that's kinda sweet..." He snapped back into focus, shaking his head. "But that doesn't mean this is okay!" One hand dropped to scratch behind Ravage's ears as the large cat pressed against his legs, purring soothingly and nudging his knees. "This is going to backfire on us and _what the hell are you doing?!"_

Unperturbed Orion reached out, placed his hands on either side of Sam's waist and gently lifted him, turning around to set the Consort on his feet behind him before turning back and disappearing out the door. The room stood still for a moment, all blinking owlishly at the Consort standing frozen in the middle of the room. He blinked, cocking his head slightly, and blinked again. He turned to Fig, eyebrows furrowed in bafflement.

"Did he just-?"

"...Yes? Yes. Yes, he did."

Sam pressed his lips together and nodded lightly. He continued to nod as he started to limp the door "Okay. Okay. I'm going to to kill him."

He stormed down the corridor, slipping into the Language of Old automatically as he called out to his Chosen's back.

" _Orion Pax! Don't make me run beca_ _use you know I can't right now!"_

The holo stiffened, jaw tight as he pivoted on his heel and met his Consort's furious gaze as he crossed his arms.

" _Sam-"_

_"You're being ridiculous! I understand you're angry but it's in the past-!"_

_"I know this is hard for you, darlin'. I know you don't want to think about it, but I do **not** want that-" _ Orion spat a twisted phrase under his breath, a curse that even the Consort didn't understand. " _On this base! Anywhere near Annabelle!"_

Sam's mouth drooped open as the blood rushed from his face, bleaching sheet white. He passed a hand over his mouth and shook his head, stomach rolling and he fought for breath"Oh gods."

Orion blinked at Sam, arms unfolding to reach for him. "Sam? Sam, darlin' are-"

"I didn't-I should've-I never thought-" he gasped for air even as his throat constricted, chest tightening as Galloway's face rose before him like a spectre, Annabelle's cheerful giggles echoing in his ears. He stumbled back as he counted his fingers, eyes squeezing shut as they blurred in front of him, trembling and blending into another.

Blood roared in his ears, drowning out the echoing indistinguishable calls and he could feel himself dropping-slowly, carefully, surrounded by warmth. He curled into it, wincing as violent tremors wrecked his slight frame. It wasn't until he felt rhythmic tapping, first on his arm and then his leg, did his chest began to open.

1-2-3-4-5 on his arm.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7 on his leg

Over and over, never faltering. Painfully, he began to match his breathing to the rhythm, restarting each time he faltered. In for five, out for seven. In for five, out for seven. In for five, out for seven...

The undistinguishable echoes sharpened into a soothing chant, the breathing technique repeated out loud over and over, endlessly patient as the iron bands tight around his chest loosened until he could breathe easily, shuddering off the last of the ice in his throat. He pulled back from the warmth around him and blinked in bemusement at Orion as he sat against the wall, Sam curled up in his lap.

"Are you okay?" Orion pressed, cupping the back of Sam's neck with one warm palm as he held Sams wrist lightly, noting the humans heart rate.

"Yeah, just...just a panic attack. I thought I was getting better at controlling them." Sams brow furrowed and he clenched his jaw, furiously rubbing the tear marks marring his cheeks. "Sorry I-"

" _ **D** **on't**_." Orion shook his head, lips pressed tightly together. "I was too harsh, I'm sorry."

Sam nodded and leaned back into the holo's embrace, tucking himself under his chin. Orion sighed, closing his eyes for a brief moment. "You're right. I was...rash. But I will not have him on base a moment longer. We have asked very little from the humans: they _will_ honour this requisition."

Silently Sam nodded and twisted his head to press a kiss of unspoken thanks against Orion's chin. Their heads snapped to meet Will's gaze as the Major cleared his throat. "He's here, and demanding to speak to you, Prime."

Their expressions smoothed as they rose, the Prime gently helping his Consort up and wrapping his arm around his waist, guiding him down the corridor.

* * *

" _ **What?!**_ " Galloway hissed, spittle flying from his lips, face ruby with rage. Jazz and Ironhide forced themselves to ignore the human's disrespect and stay in their alt modes, despite the urge to squish the bug as his offences against their Prime and Prime Consort continued to build. The Prime did not shift his gaze from the monitors in front of him, staring down the officials with cool optics. Sam stood at the Prime's right shoulder and leaned against the railing that surrounded the catwalk around Optimus, his arms crossed as he looked past the official. Lennox mirrored his pose as he watched the exchange on the Prime's left, carefully guarded as he flicked his eyes from the monitors to the spewing liaison.

"And this is non-negotiable?" The President leant forward, clasping his hands in front of him. At the Prime's nod, though his forehead furrowed, he slowly nodded, deaf to Galloway's snarl. "Very well, Prime. You're request is not unreasonable. We will provide files on candidates for a replacement, which I hope will be more to your liking."

"You can't do this! This is you, isn't it Witckwicy!" Galloway's eyes were wild darting from official to official who all returned his fury with stone resolve. He gaped wordlessly as the Prime transformed and the holo flickered to life on the catwalk, gently taking his consort's arm as Sam leaned into him. Now that his back was to the officials he allowed himself to wince as pain flared up his leg, smiling tightly as Orion hummed in sympathy. The pair froze at Galloway's next cry. "You think they can protect you?! They're going to leave eventually! They'll leave and you'll end up right were you were before, staring at the bottom of a goddamn bottle! What did you tell it?!"

Galloway shirked and lunged, sanpping the autobots into action. Jazz and Irnohdie transformed with twin snarls, their weapons trained on the ex-liaison. He grabbed Sam's elbow and yanked him around brusquely, shaking his arm as he did so. " ** _What did you tell it?!"_**

Orion snapped forward even as Will darted behind him, steadying Sam as Orion's fist smashed into the bureaucrat's jaw, sending him wheeling backwards and crashing onto the metal walkway. The holo yanked him to his feet and pushed him against one of the monitors, fists tightening on the lapels of his jacket.  
"I told you before to stay away from my consort!" He roared, blue eyes flaring angrily as he glared at Galloway, tilting his head and nodding down at the weapons trained on the human. "I warned you what would happen if you touched him. I warned you that they would rise to protect him."

Galloway's eyes darted down to where Ironhide and Jazz's canons were trained on him, as well the guns NEST soldiers who had been hovering around the hanger. "I know what you did to him when he was a child...what you _forced_ on him." Orion's voice dropped and Galloway paled, pushing at his arms uselessly. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't command them to fire."

"It was only about power! If I Chose him I would soar through the ranks, that's all!"

Orion leaned forward with a snarl, teeth barred as he hissed " ** _I. Don't. Care._** "

He froze as Sam placed his hand on his shoulder, snapping around to meet his Chosen's eyes. After a moment he dropped Galloway, throwing him a disgusted glare before he turned, wrapping his arm around Sam's waist and gently cupping the back of Sam's neck as he rested his forehead against the Prime's shoulder. After meeting Will's furious eyes the Major strode forward, yanking Galloway down the metal stairs. The weapons never faltered as they followed the bureaucrat out, never relaxed until the man was forced onto the nearest helicopter and the entire base seemed to share a sigh of relief in unison.

Eventually the Prime leaned back, lifting up his Consort's chin with gentle fingers to meet his eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Sam smiled weakly, dragging his eyes away from the door Galloway exited and new cars were brought in for the autobots to upgrade. "I'm okay, I'm just going to-" He cut himself off as he stared at the Mercedes Benz SLS as it slipped into the hanger, tilting his head slightly as the familiar tingle of energy ran through his fingers. "Is...is that a new bot?" Orion followed his gaze, frowning slightly as his spark pulled in recognition.

"I don't...how did they find-"

In an instant the Mercedes transformed into Soundwave and the Con roared as he lunged himself at the catwalk, while the Jeep Wrangler which had pulled up beside him splintered into a hulking grey mech who charged at Ironhide.

Optimus's holo vanished as he transformed and threw himself at the Con, intercepting him before he could crash into the fragile metal structure. They grappled, the Prime's sword knocked out of his servo as Soundwave clawed at him, leaving thick gorges on his wrist.

"Jazz! Get them out of here!" The Prime roared his command as he tackled the Con, forcing him through the hanger doors and into the open air, followed by a swearing Ironhide dragging out the other mech. Before either could protest, Jazz swooped forward and snatched both Sam and Lennox off the catwalk, dropping them safely on the firm floor as he raced out after his comrades, snatching up Prime's lost sword as he did so.

Optimus and Soundwave circled each other for a moment before the silver mech roared, rushing at the Prime and slashing with his talon-like claws. Optimus twisted, catching the crazed Con's wrists and twisted, throwing the mech on his back. Behind him, the Jeep crashed to the ground, firmly subdued under Ironhide's bulk. The Warrior glanced back at the other bots racing towards them, optics seeking Prowl's.

"Get me some pit-damned cuffs!" The mech roared, tackling and rolling the Con back under him when it bucked up and threw him off.

"Optimus!" The Prime snatched the sword Jazz threw at him and pressed it against Soundwave's throat, pinning him with one servo as the other caught the Con's arm as it transformed into a canon and redirected it, pulling it away from his face and pointing uselessly at the cerulean sky.

"Be still, Soundwave!" The Prime commanded, optics darting over to where a small group of younglings were being held back by the other bots as they tried to claw their away to their generator. "Don't force my servo and force that horror on them!"

The mech's optics followed Prime's and, after seeing his younglings call out to him, he eventually stilled, through the hate did not fade from the glare burning through his visor. He allowed the cuffs to be clasped around his servos and to be pulled until he was sitting upright, glaring up at the Prime's steady gaze.

"How did you find us?"

Against his will, his head automatically turned slightly to look over at his younglings and the fire burning in his spark intensified as understanding flared in Prime's optics. "Of course, you followed your bond. But why here, why now? Surly you must know that we would care for them, given their Carrier. And try you as-"

Soundwave surged up, struggling against the tight grips of Sunstreaker and Hound as he roared "I did not hurt them! I did not abandon my sparklings! _**I did not offline my Bonded** **!**_ "

" _ **Liar!**_ " Jazz bellowed, fighting against Prowl's tight grip as he tried to fight his way to the Commander. "Filthy pit-spawned liar! Tell the truth! Tell me where you hid my niblings! _Tell me where my lil' brother's shell is!"_

_" **I don't know!** "_

_"_ Damn you!" Jazz howled as Prowl and Sideswipe dragged him further away from the Con, trying to soothe the inconsolable mech. "Unicron take you! Scraplets find you! Damn you to the smelting pits you slagging fragger!"

"Prowl, get him out of here!" Prime barked back at his SiC, then turned to speak to a mech standing behind the captured Commander, hidden from Soundwave's sight. "Take him to a holding cell and bring his younglings to him once he is secure."

Ratchet coughed, drawing the Prime's attention. "Are you sure that's wise, Prime?" he asked as he eyes Soundwave warily.

"It would be cruel to deny them their generator." The Prime responded to his medic before he returned to addressing the unknown mech. "Once they leave, tell him his options."

"Yes, Prime."

Soundwave jerked like he had been shot, twisting quickly to catch the optics of a friend thought dead. "Barricade?"

The Enforcer nodded, allowing the mech a small smile as he helped him clamber to his pedes and guided him to a large hanger, already home to three other mechs and a seething femme. Barricade brought him over to his cell and stepped back, working on the control panel until four translucent violet walls surrounded Soundwave, accompanied by one which slid under his pedes and another over his helm, leaving him trapped in a spacious cube. Curious, the commanded touched the softly glowing wall and jerked back with a mutter curse as the wall zapped him in warning.

He dropped into the berth pressed against the solid hanger wall and sighed when the cuffs snapped open and disappeared, reappearing in Barricade's open palm.

"Starscream told me you were dead, that the Autobits did it. S'why I attacked-"

"-Autobots."

Soundwave stared at the mech for a moment, rolling his optics behind his bloody visor. "Really?"

"The only Autobit is Bumblebee, and that's only because he calls me Mac." Barricade shrugged at Soundwave's nonplussed gaze. "It's a cop from-never mind. I know you have a holo so turn it on."

"Why the pit would I do that?"

"Refuel. You need to consume the human's substance. Our Energon stockpile is decent, but it won't last us more than a few decades. It's restricted to the younglings and the sick and injured, the rest of us can absorb the energy from the food this way."

Silently Sounwave transformed, emerging as a holo of Spanish descent with eye-drawing white-grey hair and jet black scruff. His bare torso was riddled with scars and glyphs, while his loose grey sweatpants hid the burns Barricade knew wrapped around his legs. The other mech transformed into his holo and slid the bowl of steaming soup through the cell wall, snorting at the holo's disgruntled expression as the spoon he threw simply bounced back.

"One way, 'Wave. 'Jack's design" He mirrored his friend's pose, cross-legged as close the the wall diving them as he could, laughing at the surprised delight on the other holo's face as he tasted the soup. "Prime's Consort's recipe. You're lucky you arrived today, he only makes it for us every now and then."

Soundwave's dark eyes narrowed as he set down the empty bowl, studying Barricade intently. "There you go again. 'Us'. Inside jokes. Nicknames. You're one of them now, aren't you?"

"You know I always was."

"True. Even when you were one of us, you still kept them safe. Secretly, subtly. But safe."

"You can be too." At Soundwave's snort Barricade lunged to his feet, urgent and passionate. "You're praticaly another brother to me, 'Wave, I'll vouch for you! You turn over your weapons and you always have a shadow for the first six months, but you get your weapons if there is an attack and after a year your completely accepted. The younglings are safe here, and they are with family. Please 'Wave."

Soundwave laughed. A sharp, mirthless chuckle which grew and became more hysterical and he gasped out, "Accepted? On this base? With _Jazz_?! He thinks I-he thinks-"

The laughter began to crack until there wear tears slipping down the Commander's cheeks, gasps puncturing his hysterical chuckling. As if drawn by a magnet Barricade's eyes were pulled towards the other holo's chest, where his Bonded's name swirled in a bright and cheerful glyph, curled around the the names of his sparklings protectively.

When he pulled his gaze away Soundwave was staring at him, lost. "How could they think that? We grew up together. I may be a Con, but my own _bonded_? My **_sparklings_**? Do you think I did, 'Cade? Do you think I sold them and offlined him?"

"It's the holovid, 'Wave, it was very convincing and you and Blater were fighting a lot. But you adored him, I know you did."

"He's not offlined and neither are they. I can feel it. I'd know. I'd know."

* * *

Sam brushed his fingers through Orion's hair as he panted, melting into the mattress as his pulse began to slow back to normal. Orion rested his head on the human's toned stomach, randomly following the tattoos decorating his skin with a lazy finger.

It was here in the gentle quite that the Prime could shed his title and whisper his worries against his consort's skin.

"I'm worried about Ariel. She has been quiet ever since Egypt, and I don't know how to help her. Soundwave being here is just another complication."

Sighing, Sam nodded, mind flashing back to just a few days previous, when they had finally some time to actually deal with what had happened.

_Elita-1 rested her head on Sam's shoulder, leaning into the comfort the consort provided._

_"I can't help but feel sorry for him. I mean, he may be a Con, but living every day with the feeling your bonded is slipping away..." She shuddered delicately, "I wouldn't wish it on anyone."_ _She could practically feel the consort's empathy, closing her eyes as he stroked her hair. "I know I shouldn't, but I-"_

_"My uncle is a mass murdering bastard who is not only xenophobic, but also spent six months torturing me. I still miss him."_

_She was silent for a long moment before her shoulders started to shake lightly. When Orion's arms closed around both of them her tears spilled over, safe in the arms of her Prime and his Consort._

_"I miss him so much."_

"His presence is going to cause complications. Jazz will have to be taken off rotation of the holding cells, Barricade's training schedule will have to be rearranged to incorporate his shadowing of Soundwave..." Orion groaned, shutting his eyes against the building headache. "Not to mention the preperations for this Primus-damned trial."

"Did he really..?"

Orion sighed against Sam's hip, pausing only to press a kiss against the twisted knot of a scar left from a nasty burn before he pulled himself up to lean against the headboard like his Chosen, settling his hands on his waist as the human straddled him, tucking his head under his Orion's chin.

"There was a holovid. Security vids of him standing with the sparklings and exchanging credits, then leaving without them. Then there was a live one taken by a mole of what looked like Soundwave beating Blaster until he stopped moving under Megatron's careful optic. Our kin bonds went cold and Jazz's brother bond broke as we watched."

"So, he must be offline, right?" Sam drew back as Orion remained silent, his eyes troubled and the corner of his lip pulling down in a frown. "Sweetheart?"

"A kin bond is what Ironhide and I share, as well as Bumblebee and so forth. I claim them as brothers even though we are not bond by spark or Energon. Prowl and Barricade have a brother bond as they share Energon, while Sunstreaker and Sideswipe share a brother bond as they share a spark-an equal split, exactly in half, which makes them both the bonded of Bluestreak.

Kin bonds are...not as strong as brother bonds, which is why I realised Maximus was online again before Ironhide did. But before I knew-"

"Ariel did." Sam breathed, eyes wide. "Because her bond with Maximus was stronger."

"Which is were the controversy is sparked." Orion dropped his head back onto the headboard with an audible _thunk_ , closing his eyes again. "Soundwave insists Blaster and the younglings are alive as the bond is still tied, albeit very fragile, as if they are slowly offlining or locked in stasis."

"But because he is the key suspect, you can't take his word for it." Sam groaned, dropping his head forward to rest against the cover of the metal spark chamber in the centre of Orion's chest. "Yeah, complicated seems the exact word."

* * *

Unknown to them both, things were about to be come much more complicated. Two old faces were hurtling towards earth, and though they bore the Autobot insignia, bribery was well known to them, and manipulation was child's play.

And the Banacheks did enjoy their games.


	56. We Got Scars On Our Future Hearts

The oaths were promised and the betrayals were forgiven. Now, almost an hour later, Barricade's optics remained trained on the floor as Ironhide worked at his arms and servos, until with a series of interlocking clicks, his cannons finally began to glow again outside battle. As the Prime grasped his shoulder, Barricade's violet optics dared to meet his kind azure.

"Welcome back, brother-by-bond."

The Enforcer dipped his head to hide his small smile as he followed his Prime and the Prime's Protector back into the Communications Hanger, where most of First Command and the Rangers were busy with their everyday duties.

"There's my man!" Fig grinned up at the Autobot he considered his best friend, lightly fist bumping Barricade's cannon. "You're finally cleared!"

Technically Barricade should have been 'cleared' months ago, but between Galloway's obsessive monitoring and restrictions; Megatron's resurrection; Optimus and Samuel's deaths and subsequent resurrections; and the physical therapy the Consort had to endure during his recovery, there simply hadn't been a moment they could steal away for the short ceremony-that is, until Optimus had put his pede down, cancelled three meetings and dragged Ironhide away from training for thirty minutes.

At Fig's shout, the rest of the hanger yelled out their congratulations, offering Barricade high-fives and fist-bumps from their vantage points on the high catwalk. As Barricade approached the final human sitting at his desk, he again ducked his head to him.

Sam, having already closed down the laptop he was using to decrypt Sector Seven files (the initial security and encryption on most of the older files may have been his own, but the files which were created or updated since his betrayal almost six years ago had been updated with a new, frustratingly complex encryption), reached out to touch his cheek, fingertips lightly brushing across an old dent. "Welcome back, Barricade." The Consort smiled kindly, "It's nice to see you where you belong."

"Thank you." Barricade nodded, forcing himself away with a gruff cough as Optimus moved to stand beside Sam.

Orion reached out, gently touching Sam's cheek and forcing himself not to let his worry show when Sam turned into his touch, eyes slipping closed as he slumped against him. His exhaustion was obvious: his skin was too pale for someone living in the middle of the Indian Ocean; his hollow cheeks showed how his appetite has declined; and the constant furrow in his brow screamed of the daily pain he endured from the leg he had shattered in Egypt. Alone these symptoms were a small worry, but combined with the dark circles under his eyes which proved his sleepless night, Orion was becoming truly worried about his Consort.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" he murmured in the Language of Old, his own brow furrowing when Sam replied with a shrug which looked like it took far too much effort. Silently cursing himself for taking the night shift, Orion outtaked heavily. "Did you have that dream again?"

Sam nodded once, forcing himself to take a shaky breath.

"And this time? Do you remember anything?"

Sam shook his head biting the inside of his cheek before he answered. "Just The Drums. They're getting louder." He finally opened his eyes, meeting Orion's optics fearfully.

* * *

A drumbeat rolled through the office as Orion staggered, crashing down onto his knees. His nails scraped across his throat as he gasped desperately, his eyes star-like as they blazed. Green crystals fell from his lips and tumbled to the floor, shattering into shards which bled violet blood.

Quickfire dangled limply in a pair of strong arms, a hostile jade sap inching towards her flickering spark as the drums worked into an echoing frenzy.

Tom sneered down at him, hand pressed painfully against his chest as he laughed. His nails became talons and he dragged them down, carving words of betrayal into his chest as the drums pounded, echoing from all around, spiralling out from the beat in his chest.

The drums blocked out the sound of the speaker beside him, pounding so loudly he could feel the vibrations shake him to the bone. Above him the σόι, the double spiral that symbolised a family of blood and bond, burned a brilliant orange in the clear dawn sky like the wheel Ixion was bound to. As it rose higher, it solidified into a shimmering silver and azure and as the drums suddenly silenced it exploded into serrated shards, raining down upon the anguished. As the shards scraped across their skin they drew not blood, but salt-water. As each one smashed, they drew no sound but a single voice. Each fragment burst into an individual scream which dragged on and on and on-

"SAM!"

Sam jerked from the nightmare as Orion threw open their bedroom door and darted to his side, gasping and shaking his head as he tried to clear the horror from his heart even as the dream slipped away like smoke through his fingers. He locked his gaze with Orion and choked out a small cry of relief, dating forward to hide himself in the holo. Orion's arms encircled him, holding his distressed consort in a tight, anchoring embrace.

"Darlin', are you okay? What happened?" Orion questioned frantically, contrasting with the soothing circles he traced on Sam's back. "What did you dream of?"

"I...I don't know" Sam gasped, his hands shaking as he clutched the back of Orion's shirt. I can't-it's gone I just-The Drums, Orion. Gods, The Drums, they were loud, so loud." He shook his head, terror-filled tears soaking the Prime's shirt. "Something's coming, Orion. Something, something awful."

Orion frowned, lifting one hand to smooth down Sam's wild hair. "It's just a nightmare, Samuel. It's just a dream."

Sam pulled away to meet his gaze, and the fear in his eyes struck the Prime mute. "I don't think it is, Orion. I think something's coming, something awful, something dangerous. And we can't stop it."

Orion forced himself to shake his head and smile at Sam, lifting his hand to brush away the tears silently sliding down his cheeks. He cupped the side of his face gently, thumb light smoothing over the Consort glyph on his cheek. "Whatever you think is coming, never forget that I am here, darlin'. I would never let anything happen to you."

The promise was meant to reassure the Consort, but instead the heartbreak simply grew stronger in his eyes.

"I think you're the one in danger, Orion. And I can't lose you again."

* * *

The ear-splitting screech of the speakers in the Communications Hanger caused First Command to flinch violently, humans and Autobots alike wincing as they covered their ears and audios. In a string of bastardisation of Cybertronian and English swears, Wheeljack stomped to the enormous touchscreen which almost covered the hanger wall and stabbed at it irritably with one thick digit. The screeching warped into a shout of commanding Cybertronian before it went silent, leaving First Command staring up at the monitor; the humans in bemusement and the Autobots in stunned shock.

"That was the Ark." Optimus stated numbly as he stared at the large screen, optics shuttering before he managed to pull himself together. "They've found our signal."

He turned to find Barricade staring at the screen, frame seized as if his processor was about to crash. Behind him, Prowl and Jazz hovered, stupefied stares darting from the Enforcer to the monitor.

"What's the Ark?" Jazz startled at Mikaela's call, twisting around Barricade to meet her gaze.

"The Ark a spacecraft." The spy explained, lip plates quirking up to smile at the girl. "It's what we left Cybertron on to find the AllSpark." Sam snorted as Jazz gently ruffled his hair with one careful digit. "We left when it was approaching your galaxy 'cause Lil Bee here reported strange reading off Sol 3."

"I left The Ark in the command of Ultra Magnus,." Prowl interjected, dipping his head towards both Optimus and Barricade, "when Jazz..when our bond-" he cut himself off, taking comfort in Jazz's hand on his shoulder and throwing Sam a painfully thankful look.

"Magnus is...coming here?" Barricade choked out the question, clenching his jaw and jerking himself away as Ironhide attempted to lay an uncharacteristically gentle servo on the Neutral's wrist. "Now?"

Optimus nodded sharply and took a careful step towards the distracted mech "Did he know? About-?"

A cold weight settled in Sam's stomach as he glanced between his Chosen and the Enforcer, pieces of a confusing puzzle finally clicking into place. The creeping fingers of hurt tightened around his throat and the pressure of anger built behind his forehead, though he was careful not to let his calm façade crack.

Oblivious, Optimus' optics darted to Barricade's spark cover and the Enforcer growled roughly, twisting to pace agitatedly. "No. It was after-It doesn't matter." Barricade bit sharply, "I have to go with you. I should be there-"

"I do not think that is a good idea" Prowl interrupted, stepping forward hesitantly. "After landing-"

"I need to go." Barricade insisted, throwing his brother a heated frown. "I have to talk to him-"

"-Barricade, I really think-"

As they fought Optimus shook his head, lifting his gaze to meet Sam's and blinking back at the hidden hurt in his Consort's eyes. Almost immediately Sam broke the gaze, flicking his eyes back to his laptop before clearing his throat, cutting across the fighting brothers.

"Optimus, I need Soundwave's help with the S7 decryption."

Immediately the hanger exploded into even louder arguments, Ironhide, Jazz and Miles leading the outraged outcry. Only Optimus remained quiet, careful optics catching the intuitive spark in Sam's eyes. Unperturbed, Sam continued in the same even tone, knowing he would be heard among the shouts.

"The new encryption is based on reversed-engineered Decepticons security. To decrypt it I need understand how Decepticons encrypt, and the only person we can talk to with extensive understanding of it is Soundwave."

"You are not staying with him alone!" Ironhide roared, denta grit furiously. "He's a no-good traitor and sure as pit cannot be trusted near you. He hasn't even passed Probation yet!"

"Of course not." Sam raised his eyebrows incredulously. "Jazz can stay with me."

Even as Jazz nodded insistently, Barricade whirled on the Consort, violet optics blazing. "You want Soundwave and Jazz in the same room, alone? Pit no!"

Sam shrugged carefully, leaning back in his chair. "I'm sorry, Cade, but we need to get this sorted." Even as he said it he softened, leaning forward to meet Barricade's anger with pleading eyes. "I really think you should sit this one out, Cade. You seen what happened when Prowl and his team landed: Ultra Magnus's instincts are going to be on high alert so he can protect his team. Seeing you is just going to confuse him, and you don't want your first meeting to go like that. You don't want him to find out about Frenzy when he's angry."

Barricade glowered at the human before turning on the rest of First Command, throwing his frown from one to another, processor whirling furiously. He growled under his breath, frustration pouring off his tense, trembling frame in rolling waves until eventually his outtakes began to calm, and the fury which shook his frame began to subside.

"Fine." The Enforcer snarled through clenched denta, servos rhythmically clenching into fists and relaxing again. "I'll stay here. You're right," he admitted to the Consort, "He shouldn't find out like that."

Immediately Sam met Optimus' optics and the Autobot stepped forward, gently helping Sam onto his palm and carefully setting him on his feet on the hanger floor. He then transformed swiftly and the holo appeared at his Consort's side and the two left the hanger in silence.

As they made their way to the Prime's office Sam found himself leaning into Orion as the holo slipped an arm around his waist. The anger that pushed behind his eyes had faded and instead settled into the chill of rejection, and the holo was a solid line of warmth.

As they entered the office Sam could almost see the weight of Command lifting off Orion's shoulders as they sloped, relaxing out of the tight military posture he held as Prime. He was led to sit in Orion's comfortable leather chair behind his large oak desk. As he sat, his eyes automatically landed on the photographs framed on his Chosen's desks; photos of their convoluted family of Autobots and humans. The largest of them were two photographs; one of the both besotted Sam and Orion taken on their first anniversary as they both smiled at the camera, thousands of stars twinkling in the inky sky behind them; the other a candid photo taken by Will when they arrived back to Diego Garcia after Egypt, where Orion smiled down devotedly at Sam and their sparklings in his palm as the human held one sparkling close and placed a kiss on the other's forehead.

Despite himself, Sam couldn't help but smile at the photographs, his heart aching at the devotion Orion expressed in both. His view was blocked as the holo in question, sat on the desk, forehead creasing in worry as Sam seemed to struggle with himself in silence for a few moments before he was able to speak.

"Barricade's bonded is Ultra Magnus. The Prime's Advisor the Head of the Council...and he's your brother?"

Orion closed his eyes and nodded, bracing himself for the anger that was sure to come. Instead, his eyes snapped open as Sam sighed, his voice heavy with misery.

"And you didn't trust me enough to tell me?"

"What?" Sam looked miserable, lips pulling down and eyes on the ground. "Darlin', slag no." He tilted Sam's head up with a gentle finger under his chin, pressing forward to calm him with a soft, slow kiss when he saw the shimmer of rejection in his eyes.

"Then why didn't you tell me?" Sam pressed, even as he reached out clasp both of Orion's hands in one of his. "You told me about him, but you never said he was your brother, or that you even has another brother. Why would you hide that from me?"

Cursing himself quietly under his breath, Orion slipped off the desk to kneel in front of Sam, his gaze dropping to their clasped hands. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he shook his head, squaring his shoulders. "After I returned from staying with my biological generator-" He pressed a quick kiss against Sam's knuckles as he whispered his name, "-Magnus returned from school, saying that Meinkus had reached out to him and wanted Magnus to go and stay with him."

Orion shook his head, sighing as he continued. "Creator was furious and terrified and refused to let Magnus go and my Generator spent vorns trying to convince Magnus otherwise, as did I and Maximus. In the end, he just didn't want to be stuck in the Gamma caste for the rest of his life. He walked out on us and never came home. The next time I saw him was when he was running for election to be my Advisor. We've grown closer since then, especially when he began to court Barricade. But after Barricade 'deflected'..."

He shrugged, lips twisted into a bitter smile. "I always had the impression he blamed me, somehow. As if Barricade leaving was because I couldn't settle the disputes between the castes and then end the war that followed."

"Orion..." Words failed Sam as he met Orion's sombre gaze, so instead he lifted his hand to thread his fingers through Orion's hair and tenderly lean down and capture the holo's lips in a slow, soft kiss. Their hands parted as Orion leaned forward, his hand sliding up Sam's thigh, the other lightly clasping Sam's wrist, anchoring rather than restraining.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Orion breathed as they parted, eyes flickering open. "It just seemed unimportant-"

"Everything about you is important to me, sweetheart." Sam promised, lips curling up at the corner. "You need to talk to me about this sort of stuff, please? When you don't, I don't know, it just feels like you don't trust me with this sort of stuff."

"Pit, Sam," Orion leaned up again to brush a chaste kiss against Sam's lips, shaking his head almost in awe at the human's innocence over his feelings for him, "I trust you more than any being in this universe, I trust you more than I trust myself. Never, ever doubt that."

Finally, Sam broke into the dazzling grin Orion has been missing for weeks as he stood up, pulling Orion to his feet and looping his arms around his neck as the holo stood and rest his cheek against his spark chamber. Orion could not stop his own grin as his hands slid down Sam's sides to rest on his waist, laughing softly as Sam began to hum and sway to a half-written song.

"Anything else you want to tell me?" The human whispered, pulling back when Orion hesitated.

"Well...there is a member of Magnus's team..."

"Yes?" Sam softly prompted as he recognised the struggle in Orion's eyes. The Prime huffed a quick breath, before seeming to assure himself to continue.

"I was once involved with him."

Sam's sway slowed slightly, his forehead furrowing lightly. "This wouldn't happen to be Velocity, would it? The Neutral who broke up with you because you were 'just a Gamma', and then got back with you because you became Prime, and then broke up with you again for the same reason? The one who didn't want to talk about you and just wanted to talk about thePrime?"

Hesitantly, Orion nodded, eyeing his Consort nervously when his eyes narrowed before he smiled. "Okay, you're not leaving until tomorrow morning, right?"

"Yes..."

"Good. We're going to go home now" -both of their smiles became slightly awed at the word they never thought they would ever again have- "We'll get something to eat, watch a movie with the sparklings and then put them to bed." Now, Sam raised up on his tiptoes, his lips barely brushing against Orion's ear as he whispered, "Then we're going to bed, and I'm going to ensure I am all you can think about when you see them again."

Sam smiled serenely at Orion's stunned expression and unclasped his fingers, stepping back and turning to walk out the door, snagging Orion's hand as he did so and leading him back to their apartment

* * *

"You've been with them for months, and you have still yet to pass on any valuable information to us. Our Director grows impatient." Fault Line hissed into his PADD, eyeing the approaching vehicles with barely-concealed hostility. Their sleek, otherworldly design was disgustingly familiar to the Unspeakable and the mere thought of colluding with the enemy was enough to turn his stomach.

They entered the abandoned warehouse slowly, as if they were scanning the building where NBE 1 had examine Witwicky. His informant sighed at the other end of the line and Fault Line could practically hear them rolling their eyes in impatience.

"I've already told you, Fault Line, I'm under strict watch. I haven't left the island since we arrived and I have no idea where we are. Funny enough, Witwicky is still hesitant to trust me."

It was now Fault Line's turn to roll his eyes as his informant snarled back at him and he grit his jaw against the sharp retort which threatened to break out.

"Only his trusted and vetted are allowed off the island, and he only allows others to fly in as backup after being sedated for both flights. I've had no access to Internet and the entire communication system is blacked out by their inventor. I'm doing my best here, Fault Line, but the only reason I have even been able to make this call is because they had some emergency with a new NBE. I'm basically in a blind spot."

The Unspeakable cursed, barely catching himself from throwing the device against the nearest wall. Fury sizzling in his veins, blurred his vision and caused the pain in his head to spike, turning a dull throb into a blinding lightning strike. Fighting his ire, he brought the device to his lips and barked out a final order before turning to greet the NBEs in front of him.

They had both bent one knee and studied him and his backup critically, having converted into the alien, monstrous body every NBE had: a bulky shadow of humanoid form.

"Talk quickly." The first barked, optics sharp on the humans. "We have only minutes to rendezvous with out team. What do you want?"

Forcing down the rage at being ordered to by a NBT, Fault Line squared his shoulders and stepped forward.

"We overheard your radio conference, and it seems we have a common enemy, I believe. A Samuel Witwicky?"

Their cold optics froze further, lips twisting into sneers. One spat, sharing a disgusted glance with the other. "In our home and on this planet most of our faction has become enchanted with him. Cheering reports that a human has become a vessel for our All Spark. Blasphemy."

The other took over, equally as disgusted. "Consort, they call him. A human standing by our Prime? My rightful Bonded? Abhorrent."

"What of him?" The first returned, narrowing his optics at Fault Line.

"I have a proposition for you, a deal which will take Witwicky out of the equation."

For the first time the NBEs hesitated, sharing a quick glance. "We cannot betray our faction, blinded and seduced as they are."

"No, of course not." Fault Line hastened to assure, biting back the sick smile that threatened to ruin the ploy. "Your faction is not our concern. We simply want Witwicky. After we have him, your faction is free to continue as they are."

The NBEs were silent for a long moment, their flickering optics the only sign of the discussion pining back and forth between them. It was only when they gave a short nod that Fault Line snapped his fingers, prompting one of his Elites to guide forward with a small wooden box. Prying it open, he tilted the box so the NBEs could see the slim vials corked inside, filled with a strange jade syrup.

"Bring these with you to your base. Our ally will contact you and you will hand them these. That is your part done. Simply hand over the vials and watch what we have orchestrated play out, and we will take care of Witwicky."

The first NBE reached out to pluck the box out of Fault Line's hand, only to draw back before his claws brushed the lid. His clawed paw wavered and Fault Line snapped to the second NBE before the deal was lost.

"Witwicky seduced your Prime." He spoke urgently, his unwavering gaze firm on the NBEs optics. "He's holding him back, making him second guess his battles. He is weakening your Prime, and soon you too will be grovelling at his feet."

The second NBE snapped, snatching the box from his hand and rising tall, proud in the sunlight.

"We are of Agosti Energon, one of the greatest houses of Cybertron. I will again assume my place at Prime's side, where I bow to none."

Fault Line nodded gravely, turning as his name was called by a fellow elite. The Elite tilted his PADD so Fault Line could see the convoy heading towards the abandoned warehouse; a flamed Peterbilt leading, followed by a cop car, a GMX truck, two Corvettes and a Camaro-with Blaze in the passenger seat.

With few barked commands the Elites melted into the shadows, throwing themselves into sleek cars and onto silent motorbikes which pealed out of the warehouse.

Only when they were out of sight, did Fault Line begin to laugh

* * *

The island was barbaric. Not only were castes mixing, but so were Cybertronians and humans. They had even been taken to the side by members of their fellow Alpha Class. They had expected they would share their horror at what was taking place with Prowl, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker.

Instead they had been threatened. They had been warned that if they did not show the humans respect, especially those in First Command, The 'Rangers' and some medic, they would face serious sanctions by their own hands.

And if they dared to so much as look at Witwicky wrong, the Pit would be a preferable place.

The thought that a human, an insect was more important and held rank above them, was enough motivation to meet the other humans' contact and hand over the box.

The human contact, they'd admit later, was not who they expected. Of all the humans on the base, this particular human wasn't one they would have ever expected, especiallywhen they learned of their tie to Witwicky.

They would later overhear (from a conversation between two grief-stricken members of First Command) that on reflection, they should have seen it coming.

Sam, who was so jaded and broken, should have seen it coming.


	57. Are We In The Clear Yet?

The Prime and his Chosen were being watched through narrowed optics. Their spy's glare was unflinching, not even breaking their gaze as they entered observations into the datapad in their servo. They sneered at their camaraderie, at the informality bouncing between the two with every laugh and snarky response.

Guided by his Chosen's soft voice, Optimus shuttered his optics. In the palm of his servo the Matrix was glowing warmly, pulsing softly in the brilliance of the setting sun. In his processor, Optimus still saw Sam serene in the lotus position, his eyes lightly closed as the marigold streaks in the sunset highlighted the golden flecks hidden in his hair.

Following Sam's whispered commands, Optimus concentrated on the soothing energy the Matrix pulsed, feeling the waves of energy settle across his frame and sink into his energon lines. His frame buzzed as it rippled over him, but moved no further. There was something else, a missing piece of the puzzle just out of his grasp.

The spy leaned forward, unwilling curiosity bubbling within their frame.

The quiet presence at the back of the Prime's processor nudged and Optimus surrendered, giving into Hunter's command. The old king, after a momentary pang of longing as he watched Sam through a crack in Optimus's optics, turned his mind from Proteus and guided the Prime in tune with his Chosen. Like a forgotten limb, Optimus's spark reacted unconsciously, reaching out towards the matrix until, with the shimmering sensation much like when his holoform dissolved, Optimus blinked out of existence.

To the Prime, it was like sinking into a deep pool of still water, only to slowly resurface a few minutes later.  
To Sam and the spy, he vanished in a flash of turquoise and with an echoing crack, only to reappeared behind Sam half a second later with an entrance identical to his exit.

In a rare break in composure, Sam leapt to his feet with a strangled shout, whirling around and tripping over his own feet. He squinted up at his Chosen and got to his feet, grumbling under his breath and fighting to hide his proud smile as Optimus chuckled good-humouredly. However, he almost immediately swayed, quickly transforming and powering up his holoform, who again stumbled to the side. San quickly shot forward and curled his arm around Optimus's waist, concern etched in every line on his face.

Too far away to hear what was being said, the spy could only glare as Sam brushed the Prime's hair out of his eyes and whispered something to him, waiting until the Prime nodded tiredly before muttering something into the device on his wrist. Satisfied the Prime's alt-mode would be moved into the hanger by Ironhide, Sam shifted Optimus slightly and the two made their way inside, the exhausted Prime leaning heavily on his Chosen.

As they retreated back to the rec room to retire before heading to bed, blue optics finally flicked down to their silent tail, to the tiny human tasked with putting into place the final stages of their plan to take care of the so-called 'Consort'.

They said nothing, merely turned on their heel and walked away, disappearing into the nearest shadow.

Their blazing, fiery red hair vanishing, like a candle being snuffed out.

* * *

Orion half-dozed in the armchair, struggling to focus on the rapid, joking barbs jumping back and forth between Epps and Miles.

The 'teleportation' practice (though Hunter had insisted it wasn't so much 'teleportation' as it was 'tiny space bridge') he and Sam had taken part in earlier had utterly wore him down. Only Hunter's amused exasperation in response to Sam's worry would soothe the pair's apprehension: apparently the energy Orion used up the 'jump' was totally normal. Like beginning a new exercise, the Prime would have to simply practise the 'jump' until it took less energy and could be done much faster.

He was jerked out of his musing as Sam's weight settled on the arm of his chair and a warm mug was pressed into his hands. He sipped the tea gratefully, leaning into Sam's side. He almost dropped his mug moments later when Sam gently squeezed his neck, turning every 'bone' in the holoform's body to something of a...marshmallow-like consistency. He weakly glared at Sam through half-lidded eyes, faking grouchiness when Sam kissed the side of his forehead.

At the other side of the room, Velocity's holoform was rigid with fury as he watched the human lead the Prime out of the room. The Prime's holoform was guided only by the human's hand and followed like a _canine_.

Velocity clenched his sharp jaw, unfolding his arms only to brush his dark hair out of his eyes. His brown-eyed gaze met his brother's hazel, his own chiselled face taunt with disgust. QuickStrike too brushed his hair out of his way, unfamiliar with the strawberry-blonde tresses he had been forced to adapt.

Before either could react, Velocity found himself face to face with Ironhide. He wrinkled his nose. Ironhide had never warmed to him, always studied him with those cold cobalt optics, the polar opposite of how his half-sister Chromia ( _My, wasn't **that** a scandal_ ) would sneer at the mere sight of him.  
"I expect you to show an acceptable amount of respect for the Consort." The old warrior rumbled, his eyes piercing as his voice growled with an unspoken threat. "I best not be hearing about you spredin' rumours."

He continued to hold Velocity's glare for a long moment and then huffed and turned his back, seeming to take his silence as an affirmation.

"You know I would be better suited at Prime's side. I know the Nobels, and we both know that human isn't going to last more than a vorn." Velocity hissed. "Prime is making a grievous error."

Ironhide barely spared the Nobel a glance. "An' that's why you won't ever be at his side again. Optimus isn't just a Prime, he's a Primus-damned mech as well. And I'd rather he have a vorn of happiness than be damned to a miserable life with the likes of you."

* * *

Magnus was watching a movie with Frenzy while Barricade watched from the kitchen nook. It was hard not to. As much as he tried to give the two their privacy, he could not help but hover.  
Part of it was the protective instinct he had for Frenzy that was emphasised magnitudinally due to the events of his birth and subsequent sparkling stage; when one was raised with unstable Decepticons, one was always in danger.  
The other part was the addicting need to watch his semi-bonded play with their sparkling.

Magnus was clearly still out of his depth. He would say or do something, then snap his head around to check with Barricade that it was right. Then he would snap his head back just as quickly, almost as if he was angry to be caught asking the mech for help.

Part of it was anger, true, but not all of it. As much as he hated to admit it, as much as it killed him to agree Barricade's deception was the right path, Magnus understood why Barricade had vanished. The Decepticon who had a sparkling with a member of High Command, even if he too had once been High Command, could never be welcomed back with open arms. He would never be accepted in the Autobot Base, and he could not be separated from his sparkling. He would not even have time to defend himself before there'd be a bullet between his optics. Pit, even _Magnus himself_ was hunting for his head.

( _And late at night, Magnus would wonder why he was fighting for Barricade's spark so hard. Was it to finish what he had failed to see coming? Or was it that he simply could not bear for Barricade to become another forgotten corpse staring down a barrel? Could he even bring himself to extinguish his spark? Was his spark hoping he could convince Barricade to come home if he could only **talk** to him?_ )

No, he knew why Barricade had done what he did. He accepted there was no other path that kept himself and their sparkling safe. He was even proud of the small acts rebellion, of the 'missed' shots and encoded messages and 'accidental' ambush giveaways Barricade had managed to pull.

What truly stopped him for maintaining the short glances between them was shame.

He was ashamed that he had believed Barricade's lies and turned his back on his bonded so easily.  
Ashamed he had blamed Optimus so readily.  
Ashamed that he was so absorbed with hunting Barricade and listening to other Nobels like QuickStrike he failed to see the breadcrumbs of rebellion he left behind.  
Ashamed his actions had led him to missing the birth of his son.

He was scrambling to make up for lost time, hesitant to step forward in case it sent him tumbling back.

And so he would look to Barricade for help, then tear his eyes away. He was partly humiliated he had to ask for help raising his own son; partly furious at the events that put them in this situation to begin with; partly mad with the need to bond with Barricade and retie their sparks, to swear to his son he would never miss another moment with them again, to bind them in a family once more.

So he stayed silent and cut of his gaze, until he could trust himself to be worthy of his once-bonded and son once more.

* * *

Orion grumbled against the cold, his eyes still screwed shut as he was roused from sleep. The comforting weight on his chest was gone, so as he rolled onto to his side he reached over to wrap his arm around Sam's waist. His hand hit the cold mattress and the Prime's eyes flickered open, squinting at the empty space where his Consort should have lay.

"Sam?" Orion rumbled, his voice low and rough. He shivered as he sat up, their blanket slipping down to pool at his waist. Yawning, he dragged his hand down his face and frowned at the unusual chill in the room. "Darlin?"

He squinted around the room, dimly lit from the moonlight streaming through the large ( _Open? I was sure they were closed?_ ) bay windows and casting everything in a dull blue hue, until his heavy gaze landed on the shadowed silhouette framed against the Indian ocean.

"Samuel?"

The human did not answer, did not even react to his name being called. As Orion slipped out of them bed and padded over to his Consort, his concern grew as Sam trembled on the window seat, shivering as he stared blankly through the windows, blind and deaf to the world around him. Frowning, Orion snapped the window shut and knelt at Sam's feet.

"Dar- _Primus_ , you're _freezing_." Orion hissed as he cupped the back of Sam's neck.

At his touch the human started, jerkily twisting and lifting his head to meet his Prime's gaze. Instinctively Orion crooned in the back of his throat, reaching out to gently frame Sam's cold cheeks with his warm palms. Twin streaks slipped down Sam's cheeks, as if the human had been crying softly for hours and the Prime was at a loss, spark aching at the grief and fear brimming in his eyes.

"Samuel, what's wrong?" His worry spiralled when Sam took a shuddering breath and his blank expression crumpled. Orion's questions became frantic as Sam almost collapsed forward, falling into Orion's arms and hiding his face in the holo's neck as large, gasping sobs shook him from head to toe. He gripped Orion's arms tightly to steady himself against the fear washing over him.

The holo wrapped his arms around Sam, holding him close, anchoring him as he fell apart.

It felt like hours before Sam's gasps turned to shudders and fear loosened its noose around his throat to explain his nightmare; the green syrup that dripped from Orion's optics, the green rope that tightened around Quickfire's neck, and Tom.

Tom Banachek's sadistic, manic grin as he held a knife dripping with purple water.

"I'm sorry-" Sam rasped, still hiding from Orion's worried scrutiny.

Orion hushed him, gently combing his fingers through Sam's hair as he placed a soft kiss on the top of his head. "You're okay now darlin', it was just a nightmare."

"I know, I know but-but I can hear them." Robotically, as if being forced against his will, Sam's fingers tapped a familiar beat against Orion's shoulder.

Tap-tap-tap-tap  
Tap-tap-tap-tap  
Tap-tap-tap-

Carefully, Orion snagged Sam's wrist, holding it still. He brought it up to his mouth and brushed his lips against Sam's knuckles. Hesitantly, Sam meet Orion's gaze as the holo placed his palm over his spark chamber. "I know you're scared, darlin'. What you seen was only a nightmare, nothing more."

"But what if-!"

" _Samuel._ " Sam's words caught in his throat at the intensity of Orion's gaze, as if the Prime was trying to pour every ounce of love and conviction into Sam's very heart. "Nothing will happen to Quickfire, I will **_never_** allow it. I will do whatever I can to convince you of that, be it bringing our sparklings into our room, extra patrols around the base, pit, even leave from away missions to stay here to ensure it _personally_. No-one will **dare** to hurt her. And I am safe."

He firmly halted Sam's next line of argument as he lightly traced circles onto Sam's hand with the pad of his thumb. "I know we are at war, and I know I cannot make unkeepable promises. But I swear to you, Samuel, I will never stop fighting to come home to you. You and our children are...are **_everything_**. I will spend every day we are together trying to prove that to you."

Now, his eye hardened, alight with a furious flame. "He will never lay a hand on you, do you understand me, Samuel? No matter what happens, as long as my spark burns, he will _**never**_ touch you again." He clenched his jaw. "You are surrounded by loved ones, darlin'. Don't think for one second your brothers and sisters would not have you surrounded if there was so much as a glimmer of a chance he was in a ten block radius. _**You're safe.**_ "

Though Sam nodded, it was clear turmoil still rolled in his storm-filled eyes. He broke Orion's gaze and looked back to the ocean, pale and cold.

"You're not going to sleep tonight, are you?" It was less of a question and more of a fact. Orion knew by the set of Sam's shoulders and how he curved in on himself, as if to make himself smaller, that only terror would haunt him in his dreams.

In reply Sam only shook his head, biting now harshly on his lip.

He was an angel pale in the moonlight; a stunning sylph scared and a seraphic statue frozen in fear. Dressed in the Prime's faded white shirt and shorts, and with the Prime's Astrum glowing in the hollow of his throat, he seemed ethereal, almost ghostly. As if he was somehow slipping through Orion's fingers, and would leave only his silent silhouette burned into the Prime's dreams and his laugh bubbling around corridor corners.

The Prime frowned to himself, then snapped to his feet, offering his hand to his Consort. Puzzled, Sam slipped his hand into Orion's and let himself be guided to his feet. His breath caught in his throat as Orion wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him flush against his bare chest. As heat crawled into his cheeks, Sam's hand rose onto Orion's shoulder as the other was still captured in the Prime's warm grasp.

As Orion began to hum an old, familiar song, he slowly led Sam around the room, their steps falling into sync. Stress began to seep from Sam as he relaxed, head resting on Orion's chest, lulled into calm by Prime's soothing spark pulses.

He closed his eyes as an old dream played behind closed lids, and smiled softly when Orion pressed a kiss against his hair.

_"I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream…"_


	58. Say You'll Remember Me

"Aren't you a pagan?" Jetfire wrinkled his nose and scratched the side of his head, his silver hair stark against his dark skin. "One of those Grecian ones?"

"Yes…" Sam allowed as he continued to stick paper snowflakes to the window (Carefully constructed by the dedicated sparkling duo still diligent at the table) as the coffee brewed at his elbow. "But we have a lot of Christians on base. And presents are always great!" he grinned, poking his tongue out as the old mech scoffed

"I remember when the winter solstice was nothing but a massive or-" he cut off at Sam's pointed glare, and turned to grin down at the suddenly curious children of his Prime "-iginal way of showering sparklings with presents!"

The children grinned and Sam chucked in the corner.

Optimus staggered into the kitchen with a jaw-cracking yawn and stumbled over to Sam, wrapping his arm around his waist and mumbling sleepily into his neck. He jumped as if he had been electrocuted when Jetfire cleared his throat, loudly and obnoxiously. Smothering a laugh, Sam wriggled out of the Prime's hold and brought 3 cups of coffee over to the kitchen table, shooing Quickfire and her brother out with the promise of _two_ _movies!_

When he returned, the room had slipped from Christmas cheer to pressing disillusion. Optimus pulled Sam into his lap, quietly explaining that he and Jetfire had been speaking about the Decepticons still awaiting trial.

"Prime said you've been taking energon samples from them?" Jetfire hedged from around a mouthful of bitter coffee.

"Yes, I've been examining the nanites in their energon." Sam shared a quick glance with Optimus, continuing as the Prime nodded quickly. "We know that some of the Decepticons are carrying out acts of war against their will, almost as if part of them shuts off and something else takes control over their body." The human traced his fingertip around the rim of his mug. "We've ruled out all environmental factors…if something is controlling them, it's coming from within."

"Any progress?" Jetfire frowned when Sam shook his head regretfully.

"You've only been working on this for a few weeks, Samuel." Optimus tightened his arm around his waist. "We'll get there."

Before Sam could respond, the kitchen door was pushed open by two very excited sparklings.

"Daddy! Daddy, Daddy, Generator!" They both scrambled up onto Sam's laps as Quickfire squealed.

"I picked a name!" their little mechling grinned up at his shocked parents with bright optics, the bloody red replaced by Autobot blue only days earlier.

"Baby, that's fantastic!" Sam smiled brilliantly, his joy outshining the scars on his face and the shadows under his eyes. "What have you chose?"

"Terra." The mechling turned shy, glancing down at his swinging pedes. "I thought because it means earth, an' earth is the best place, because it's where I gots my family, an' Daddy, you're from earth-"

He was interrupted as Sam peppered his blushing face with kisses and Orion placed a gentle hand on the back of his neck. "I'm very proud of you, little one."

Terra grinned up at his caretakers, as Quickfire chanted "Terra Pax! Terra Pax!"

The sombre mood was broken and the worries of the future set aside for the moment. This was time for family: for two sparklings, two caretakers and a pseudo-grandfather.

* * *

( _Night Changes, Catey Shaw)_

Her hand was wrapped in his as they walked along the water's edge, the waves lapping at her painted toes as the sun began to set, streaks of marigold and peach highlighting the hints of gold buried in his green eyes. Those eyes were bright as her stared in hers, halting their walk to turn and clasp both her hands and bring them to his lips. He brushed a gentle kiss against her knuckles and chuckled softly.

"I had to ask your brothers for advice. This is a human thing that I am unfamiliar with. But I love you," he insisted, his hands gripping hers a fraction tighter, "and I want to be with you in every way possible."

He sunk to one knee and the ocean stilled. The plane over their heads was silent and the breeze that whipped her hair fell to a warm caress across her skin. She was weightless in this moment, eternal in the love he declared and the adoration in her heart.

How could he describe how his spark races when she smiles, how every cell brims with adoration when she holds their sparkling, how her touch sends sparks racing across his skin and how her presence settles an ache in his very veins?  
His hands trembled and his words were thick in his mouth, stumbling over each other in his haste to condense what he feels in his spark into words which can never truly translate.

She's always fought against the stereotypes that are cast her way with every glance. She was dismissed as an airhead but now her hands soothe burns and knit metal. She was judged a cheater by what she wore but she's stood by her partner for over two years. Just because she has been categorised as the 'lesser' sex does not mean she is weak and prone to tears.  
Yet a trail of her happiness slipped down from her eye as he promises to stay. A girl forged by abandonment after abandonment has found an unshakable foundation to build a new life on.

Her response was the whisper of a frightened child, the oath of a woman with a spine of steel, and the cry of a warrior. His nerves shattered and his smile set the world back in motion. He slid the ring onto her finger; a band of metal taken from his chestplate and a polished marquise of astrum to match the pendant around her neck, haloed by diamonds.

Faster than light he swept her into his arms, her hair fanning out behind her as he spun her around. Both of them laughed blissfully though their kiss.

In a few minutes, they will return to the base with their news and share their joy with their friends and family. Unknown to them, chaos was rampaging through the base as death stalked its halls. But for now, this moment belonged solely to Mikaela and Hound.

* * *

A long, thin needle pierced the side of the energon cube. The plunger slid the noxious green liquid into the cube and then the needle was withdrawn, hidden under the flap of a coat.

"May I have my energon, please?" The youngling blinked her wide green optics up at him as he spun quickly, smiling brightly down at her.

"Here you go, little star!" Velocity crouched down and without hesitation handed it to Quickfire.

The youngling grinned up at him and took the cube carefully, almost walking away before snapping back around with a startled "Oh! Thank you for the energon, mister Velocity!" She chirped.

Velocity's smile became a touch more benevolent. "You have wonderful manners, little star. Did your Generator teach you them?"

Quickfire nodded enthusiastically. "And Daddy!" she made sure to add, "Daddy taught me lots of stuff, like saying please and thank you and the gods and-"

The benevolent smiled became pinched and his expression sharpened. "Lovely, little star. Now, drink up. Make sure you finish it all so you will grow big and strong like your Generator."

Quickfire grinned up at him and turned to run into Elita-1's arms as she waited to collect her from day-care, chattering excitedly about her day as the cube stayed tight in her grasp.

* * *

Aisling gripped the disposable coffee, her fingers tapping against it nervously. In front of her, Optimus raised his eyebrows, hands stilling from where he was flipping through his papers. Clearing her throat, she offered the cup to him, smiling awkwardly.

"Sam said you take it black with honey?"

Bemused, the Prime offered a startled smile and gratefully took the cup. "Thank-you. Can I help you with anything?"

Aisling shook her head and merely offered another awkward smile. "No I-I just wanted to say thank you."

"'Thank you'?" The Prime wrinkled his nose, unknowingly mimicking his consort.

Aisling laughed in response to the Prime's confusion. "For Sam. It's been a long time since I've seen him so happy, and that's because of you."

A soft, besotted smile pulled at the Prime's lips as he glanced down at the cup in his hands. "He makes me happy too."

Aisling grinned at the Prime before she bobbed her head and turned, retreating from the room as Quickfire scampered in as she was dropped off by Elita-1, clamouring onto her Generator's lap with tales of day-care. He kissed her helm as he dropped his papers to open her energon cube.

She was almost in the corridor when Optimus's soft call froze her step.

"Aisling?" She turned, stunned at the warmth the Prime sent her way. "Would you like to join us for dinner tomorrow night? Sam's wanted to ask for a few weeks now."

For a moment, Aisling hesitated as the Prime brought the coffee cup to his lips. Then she nodded and smiled. "I'd like that very much."

She left before he swallowed her betrayal, and she only allowed herself to shed a handful of silent tears, which she quickly wiped away as she strode down the corridor. With a lump in her throat she passed Sam, heading towards the office with two foil-covered plates. The hesitation he had once greeted her with had faded over the last year and he smiled brilliantly, nodding at her as she passed.

She walked on, out and into the blinding sunlight, away from the sound of the Prime's panicked shout; of a painful thump; of the sound of china shattering and Sam's garbled, horrified scream.

* * *

_(Heavy in your arms, Florence & The Machine)_

Sam dropped to his knees, their lunch crashing to the floor as he frantically pressed his hand over Orion's spark. "No no no _gods not again"_ he gasped as the spark pulsed weakly under his hand, his eyes flicking up to Orion's face. The holo's eyes were rolling behind his lids as he mumbled incoherently, sweat beading on his forehead as he held Quickfire protectively to his chest.

Quickfire was strangely silent. Sam's heart leapt to his throat as he went to place his hand on her back. ' _She must be so scared'_ his heart ached. "Baby, it's okay. It's okay, don't be scared, Generator is just not feeling-"

He jerked his hand back with an agonised cry. Her armour burned, as if a fever was roaring through her energon. Fear gripped his throat as he scrambled for Orion's fallen earpiece, gasping his password into it.

* * *

Ratchet jerked as Sam roared over the commlink, starting back from where he had been checking Ironhide's wrist and Jazz's ankle.

"Samuel?"

" _Ratchet…They won't wake up_." Ironhide snapped to attention when the energon drained from Ratechet's face as the Consort sobbed in his ear. " _They won't wake up Ratchet and I don't know what to do_ _and-_ "

He was already signalling to Jazz and Ironhide as he grabbed his medkit, the trio sprinting past the alarmed faces of their collages. "Samuel, please stay calm. Who's hurt? Is Optimus there with you?"

Sam ignored him, muttering desperately through his tears. " _-oh gods please sweetheart, please baby please wake up-"_

They crashed into their Prime's office to find the Consort cradling his daughter as he mumbled prayers against the comatose Prime's forehead. He looked up at them desperately, heedless of the tears running down his face as he rocked his child in his arms.

"Please, I-I don't know what to do." He was inconsolable in his fear, hands shaking as he helped them drag Optimus to his feet and sling his arms over their shoulders.

Ironhide barked out orders over the commlink and Ratchet's spark ached for the terrified human, hesitating only to grip his shoulder before hurrying out after the other two mechs.

The waiting room was packed to capacity as they stormed in, the clamorous shouts silencing as they dragged Optimus through and onto the nearest bed. Ironhide and Jazz retreated as Ratchet slipped into his element, darting around the bed to hook the Prime up monitors which began screeching the moment they touched his skin.

First Aid carefully took Quickfire from Sam's arms as Ironhide and Jazz each grabbed one and gently began to drag him from the room. The Consort snarled at them, desperately fighting tooth and nail to claw his way back to his family. It was only with the prick of a needle against his neck did the Consort slum, dragged under by the sedative.

He woke in the waiting room to furious arguing and frantic pacing, accusations and theories firing around the room. He reached for the arms of his chair to get to his feet, only to find his own swathed in bandages.

"You've burned your arms, Sam." Mikaela whispered from his right, reaching out to grasp his knee gently to provide some comfort. "Quickfire had a very high fever and you held on to her for quite a while."

Before he has a chance to respond, to scramble to his feet and storm the med-bay doors, they opened.

As Ratchet slipped through the door silence fell, suffocating and freezing as Sam shakily stood and followed him into the room. Through the small window they saw Ratchet gently destroy the Consort.

A dagger to the heart would have been kinder. The Consort crumpled, falling into Ratchet's waiting arms with a gut wrenching wail as he cursed and sobbed into his chest. The medic held him tightly, fighting back his own tears as he stroked Sam's hair.

Bumblebee broke into gasping sobs, inconsolable as Miles cursed foully to hide his pain and held him tightly. Ironhide roared, slamming his fist into the nearest wall before he fell, hiding his face against Will's stomach. The horrified Major hugged the Warrior close with numb hands, sharing a devastated glance with Epps. Magnus stood abruptly, deaf to Barricade's call and stormed out of the waiting room, past Elita-1 who sat with her face buried in her palms, her shoulders shaking as a tearful Jazz tried to comfort her.

Sam ripped himself from Ratchet's comfort and disappeared from their view. The medic shook his head before slipping back through the doors, meeting their devastation with only empty comfort.

"I don't know what it is. It seems to be some sort of virus attacking their systems, but nothing I've tried has made any difference. Their sparks are overheating."

The questions came like a firing squad.

"How long do they have?" Mile's face was drawn, aged decades in only minutes.

"Days, at best."

"Can't…can't Optimus just dismiss the holo?" Epps spoke through his fingers.

Ratchet shook his head sadly in response. "Our holos are made out of our nanites. If Optimus was in the state of mind to dismiss the holo, the nanites would just return to his body and the virus would spread through it. And with his actual spark being bigger than that in the holo, as well as the influence of the matrix…I'm positive the virus would just spread faster and offline him sooner."

"Is it contagious?" Wheeljack's worried eyes traced over his bonded, frowning at Ratchet's pallor.

"No. It's been carefully cultivated and…Quickfire has been given exactly half the dose Optimus has. There's a very deliberate time frame on this."

"Poison." Prowl snarled, uncharacteristic and savage blood thirst dripping from his barred teeth.

Sunstreak's whisper muffled the charged anger coursing through the room. "Is there anything we can do for them?"

"No." The finality of statement hit those waiting like a battering ram. Suddenly, the anger seemed useless, pointless in the face of what was coming. They could use their anger to fight off a horde of Decepticons…but what curses could battle a raging virus?

"At best we can make them comfortable."

Word soon spread around the base like wildfire, ripping through every rank and species. Prime had only days at best, as did his kid (' _At least I think it's his kid?_ ' Most humans whispered). The rumours ran wild, blaming everyone from Moreshower to Witwicky himself.

Only Sam's exhausted plea to keep the peace stooped Ironhide from slamming that human's face into the nearest wall. Instead, he turned on his heel and stormed away, his teeth grinding. As he entered the medbay, he nodded at the redhead (' _Sam's cousin'_ Will had mumbled), meeting Miles as he left the private room Optimus and QuickFire lay in. The tray of food in his tight grip was untouched.

"He's still not eating?" Ironhide dragged his hand down his face as Miles shook his head, his jaw clenched tightly as he hurried away.

The Warrior felt every one of his vorns as he slipped into the side room. Jazz nodded at him from where he held vigil, his arms crossed and eyes shrouded as he stared at the comatose figures on the bed and the statues sitting beside it. The room was dim, the light coming from the candles on almost every flat surface which cast dancing shadows on the wall. The room was also devoid of all non-cybertronic electronics; the lights has been dismantled and the room purged when Optimus had begun seizing: the electrical interference from alien electronics sent his already shattered system into overdrive.

The Prime was on his back, dressed only in loose shorts to as his eyes flickered restlessly under his lids, an occasionally murmur dragged through numb lips. His hair stuck to his forehead with sweat and cooling water. QuickFire had been moved to lie on her Generator's chest, her helm on his spark plate as his arm wrapped closely around her: defensive even in unconsciousness as his broad palm spread across her vulnerable back.

His other hand was clasped by his consort.

Sam has barely moved in days, only breaking his vigil to tend to Terra, and help him maintain his holo long enough to eat a meal. All the younglings had been given emergency holos in the wake of QuickFire's poisoning. Most were grey, washed-out versions of one of their caretakers, as the threat of another poisoning hung over the heads of every Cybertron and human alike.

Terra and Jolt, however, already had their holos implemented and now a small five year old boy ate sliced apples on Sam's lap while his actual body slept beside his sister. Under Prowl's carefully guidance, Terra has willed his holo to change. Hair that was once blonde was now red, porcelain skin had blended to a sun kissed gold with a smattering of freckles, and brown eyes had lightened to eyes as blue as his Generator's.

Sam made no movement to acknowledge Ironhide, only waited until Terra has finished eating and dropped into sleep. Sam kissed his forehead and gently tucked him under Orion's arm, shoulders dropping an inch when the the holo flickered out as the mechling slipped into deep recharge.

Then, he gave what felt like his hundredth command in his Prime's steed.

"I want you both to find who did this. Question everyone; every mech and man, femme and female and neutral. No exceptions." With no infliction Sam spoke, gaze not once wavering from the rise and fall of his family's intakes. "Find them by any means necessary, and have them tried for treason and-" his voice broke and he wavered. After closing his eyes and holding a breath, he continued icily "-and when the time comes, murder."

The temperature of the room plunged, and suddenly neither Jazz nor Ironhide could bare to meet each other's eyes, or look at those lying still.

The sound of the door opening broke their moment of weakness, and Aisling frowned apologetically at her interruption. Jazz and Ironhide quickly jerked into action, pausing only to touch Sam's shoulder in comfort as they left.

Jazz stilled as Aisling pulled on his sleeve. "Could you ask Blaze to be here in ten minutes, and The Seeker and Major Lennox to meet us at the beach in fifteen?" She whispered, and nodded at Sam's back. "I think he'll need them."

Jazz looked over at Sam and nodded, sighing as he left the room. The moment they were alone, she walked over to her cousin, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. Sam reached up and grasped it as his shoulder began to shake.

"I don't understand how this could have happened." He whispered brokenly. "The only people who could have had access to them is our most trusted. People I trust with my life." He shook his head. "Why would they do this? Why now?"

"It's obvious, Samuel." Aisling murmured, dropping a kiss on the crown of his head. "They're targeting you. They know the only way to get to you is through them."

Distracted, Sam nodded, covering his eyes with his free hand. "I just want to know what they want. I'd give it to them in a heartbeat."

"Your life for theirs?" Sam was nodding even before she finished her question.

"Of course."

"Good. Then the cure is yours."

Under her hands, Sam's shoulders turned to stone. He froze, marble for a moment, before he hung his head. His shoulders collapsed inward as he curved forward, defeat and devastation drawn in every sharp line. When he spoke, Aisling had to strain to hear him. "Why didn't you just target me?"

"You're a coward." Contempt spat through her snarl. "You'd just let the poison burn you up rather than meet with him again."

He nodded once, her logic sound. She let go of him, severing whatever fragile cord that had tied them together.

"Your _associates_ will be with you in a moment. I'll wait outside." She turned to go, halting just before opening the door as Sam suddenly spoke.

"I really thought you chose me, that day the Tranquillity base burned."

"I did." She replied. "I chose to purge _your_ shame from our blood, and give _FaultLine_ another chance to be great again."

The door clicked shut behind her.

* * *

_(You'll be in my Heart, Phil Collins. Wildest Dreams, Taylor Swift. Leave out all the Rest, Linkin Park.)_

It felt an age before Sam moved. He unfolded from his chair, and his eyes roamed over his family, categorising every freckle and scar and inch. He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss against Terra's helm. Leaving part of his heart, he turned to his daughter. Heedless of the tears dripping onto her helm, he also pressed a kiss against it, ignoring the burn of her skin.

"I've loved you both from the moment I held you. My strong little girl, my brave baby boy; I'll always love you, and I'll always watch over your sparks. My babies, never doubt that, no matter what."

He dragged himself away from his children, no longer able to stop the sobs heaving out of his chest. With a shaking hand he brushed away the hair stuck to Orion's fevered brow.

"You changed everything." He whispered, a touch of wonder bleeding though his tears. "You took a stupid, broken boy and somehow thought he was worth your spark." He kissed Orion's cheek. "Thank you for our family, and thank you for your love."

He rested his forehead on Orion's, and gripped the bedsheet with white knuckles. "I want you to find someone. Someone kind, and good, and who adores you and our kids. I want you to have someone to come home to, who will take care of you after you've exhausted yourself caring for everyone else."

Fear suddenly choked him, and with a strangled gasp he begged "Just please, don't forget about me." He was fourteen again, flinching every time the cell door swung open and wondering if he had seen his last sunset. "Promise you'll remember me, under the stars and watching the sunset on the ship…"

He bit his lip and closed his eyes, furiously fighting back his fears and tears as he pressed his lips against Orion's forehead in one final kiss. "I have loved you for a thousand lifetimes," he swore firmly, "and I'll love you for a thousand more. Until the stars stop turning, and for an eternity after."

He pulled away and undid his necklace, the silver chain puling around the astrum shard, a thousand colours dancing in the candlelight. Very carefully, he placed it in Orion's hand and closed his fist around it. As Sam gently lowered his hand back onto the bed, the door opened and Miles slipped into the room.

"Please stay with them for a few hours. I have-I have to be somewhere else."

Barely hearing Miles promise, Sam brushed past him, unable to glance back in fear or crumpling into his brother's arms.

On the bed Orion groaned out his name, his hand trembling.

* * *

( _Wonderful Word, Position Music)_

The walk to the beach was a blur, snatches of family he would never see again, glimpses of friends who would forget his face blurring past as he hurried.

On the beach Will, Aisling and Jetfire waited, the Major hesitating when Sam, pale as a ghost, beckoned Jetfire's holo just out of Will's earshot. They conversed in quick, furious Language of the Primes (much to the dismay of Will). Eventually the cracks of conversation and snaps of gestures mellowed after Sam's voice rose to an unflinching command that, even though it was in a language he did not speak, Will felt the power of the words in his bones. Jetfire took both of Sam's hands in his, pleading with him low and fevered.

When Sam only shook his head, the old timer could only sigh. He brought Sam's clasped hands up to his forehead and mumbled something under his breath, before his holo faded into mist and he slipped back into his biped.

Sam stood there for a moment, illuminated in the glowing sunset. Then he turned, broke the spell and made his way over to the trio. "There's a cure. Sector Seven made contact and gave Aisling their coordinates. Jetfire is going to take us to bridge us to it."

The Seeker nodded then ordered them into a loose circle with gruff commands. He gave Sam a long, assessing once-over before nodding at Aisling. As she rattled out the string of numbers and the tell-tale blue lightning crackled around them, Will cast one last look at Sam.

Just before they vanished with a crack and flash, he could have sworn there were twin streaks slipping down Sam's cheeks as he watched the sun sink into the ocean.


	59. And I'm Drowning in the Déjà Vu

They arrived with another crack of lightning in a deserted alleyway. The shadows were long and still as they righted themselves, and Sam choked out a hoarse laugh as he looked up at the stars shining above them.

"Kid?"

Sam's eyes were bright when they met Wills, his lips pulled into a tremulous smile. "This is where we met them, that first night."

"Shit, really?" Will glanced around himself, reassessing the ally with new eyes as he tried to imagine five Autobot collecting in this desolated alley, praying three kids could save their species.

"This is where we agreed to help them." Sam muttered faintly, distracted, staring at the spot where Optimus had first knelt down and met his eyes.

Down this dank and dirty alleyway, the fates of eight converged and exploded into a destiny that would shape the lives of not only them, but every person they would meet.

"Damn," Will muttered under his breath, "I feel like there should be a plaque or something."

Sam grinned for a moment, his real age shining through the exhausted lines on his face, then the shadows rippled.

In a flash of silver pistols and daggers were drawn and pointed at the quartet, freezing them in place. In the silence Banachek strode through his Elite's formation, Fault Line at his side. The Director's eyes were hidden by his sunglasses, but Sam felt his gaze crawl over his skin, lingering on scars new and old.

"Let's make this quick." Banachek drawled, and Fault Line smiled as Sam flinched.

His smirk curled into a silent snarl as Will shifted his footing so Sam was half-hidden from sight, primal rage burning in his eyes and defence in the solid line of his shoulders as he stared the scum down.

Banachek's jaw tighten just a fraction and he jerked his head, gesturing for Aishling to return to his side. She did so with only a moment's hesitation, gliding past Sam and meeting Lennox's livid glare without a flinch.

" _You_!" It was punched out of the captain and he jerked forward, only held back by Sam's nails biting into his shoulder and Jetfire's warning rumble. "We welcomed you into our family! You betrayed us, betrayed your blood!"

Something akin to regret sliced across her face even as Fault Line hissed, "Only blood that betrayed her!"

Before the argument could escalate, Banachek held up his hand and silenced them. Furious, Will snapped around to see why Sam had not spoken out, only to find him gaze on Tom, unwavering. As much as he wanted to snarl at Aisling, Banachek held all the cards and the wrong move could see their only hope smashed on the ground Optimus's projection had played across.

With an unnecessary flourish, Banachek drew a thin vial out of his jacket. The liquid was luminous, bottled moonlight that taunted Sam with every shimmer. The vial's cap was strange, however. A blinking light flashed atop it, and suspended above the moonlight was another tiny vial, full of dancing sunlight.

"Just a little precaution." The Director smirked, gently shaking the vial from side to side. "Once you leave, I will enter a four digit number into my PADD. If you try to take it from us by force, try to attack any of us, try to do anything except _exactly what you are told_ , your leader's cure will be…neutralised."

Sam sucked a sharp breath through his teeth, and Tom's smirk twisted viciously.

"We all know how you excel at double crossing, Lightening."

Sam's chest heaved and he looked away. His eyes screwed shut as he forced his trembling hands into tight fists. Then with a jolt the Consort jerked into action and twisted to face Tom once more, his face a blank slate.

Each step was careful and deliberate as he walked through no-mans-land, never breaking eye contact with the Director as he plucked the vial from his grasp.

"Thirty-three CCs to you NBE, sixteen and a half to the NBT."

The Consort nodded and turned, allowing a single breath of relief to escape against the wall of professionalism as he went back to Will, and handed him the vial.

"Thirty-three CCs to Orion, sixteen and a half to Quickfire." He repeated, some tension bleeding from his shoulders as both Jetfire and Will repeated the dosage back to him flawlessly and without hesitation.

Will eyed the vial dubiously, flicking his glare from where the Elites waited expectedly before glancing at Sam from the corner of his eye. "How do we know this isn't another virus, or just coloured water? Why the hell would they cure them after poisoning them?"

"He's worth more to them alive, and Tom knows it." Sam murmured, his eyes seeking out Jetfire's optics. "Kill him and he'd have both the government and the Autobots after him. Kill her and he'll be dead in days."

"Then why poison him at all?"

"How else would he get me here alone?"

Will's blood froze in his veins. Sam was smiled bitterly as his eyes shone briefly. It was not with the glowing blue of the Allspark; it was with the shine of terrified tears.

He took a step back.

"Kid…" Will's ignored the sadistic smiles growing on the faces of every Elite. "Kid, what are you doing?" He took a cautious step forward, his hand outstretched.

Sam took two more back and shook his head and his tears finally spilled over and raced down his scarred cheeks. "They don't let people go, Will. They just allow…exchanges."

Sam saw the exact moment understanding slammed into Will, and he swiped his hand across his eyes. He turned away as Will's stomach dropped, cast his eyes to the stars as Will staggered back, and begged his father for strength as a strangled cry of denial punched its way out of Will's chest.

He turned his back on his way home, the whisper of Will's desperate grasp brushing against his shoulder thwarted by the swipe of Jetfire's hand.

That first step, facing Tom's smirk, sickened Sam beyond belief. Bile rose in Sam's throat as he forced another step away from his family and another closer to enemy. Behind him Will roared and cursed from Jetfire's grasp, spewing hate the closer Sam got to Tom.

Déjà vu settled over Sam, clinging to him like an icy second skin as flashes of a much younger Tom glared down at him as he was dragged through a court of screaming Elites. When he reached him there was a flicker of movement, a blur of black as something unseen was taken from Sam forcibly. Then his uncle twirled his fingers slowly, and Sam turn like a puppet to face Will and Jetfire once more. One was a statue in his grief, forced still by his oath to the Consort. The other spat in fury and fear.

"Kneel."

Sam struggled to smile as he sank to his knees, scrambling to give some sort of comfort.

"It's okay." He pleaded, his words tripping over themselves. "Just go, go and tell everyone I love them and I'm sorry and-"

In a twist in fate, and a cruel mockery Sam choked just as Optimus did as Tom drove the dagger into his back. He yanked it back out in a spray of scarlet, and dropped the present he had gifted his nephew on the day he took his vow to be an Elite onto the alleyway with a dull clang.

Sam coughed, something thick rising up his throat and dribbling out of his lips. He thought it was vomit, but it tasted like pennies. His breath only rattled in his chest and he could see his bloodied reflection in Jetfire's chest plate. He tried to form words, even as he tipped forward and Will's scream carried him into darkness.

The NBE vanished with a flash and the charade snapped. In a flurry of black the medics sprinted forward, already patching up the traitor with machine-like efficiency. A few tense, frozen moment later and they nodded.

Banachek turned, paused to type into his PADD, and then headed towards his car without a single glance behind him back.

"I don't understand." Aisling was confused, her eyes wide and hand fluttering nervously as she glanced between Sam and the approaching Tom. "I thought the exchange was his life for theirs?"

Tom smiled and kissed his niece's forehead gently. "We double-crossed the double-crosser. He has information that very few are privy to. He is much more valuable to us alive."

"Oh gods…"

He ignored the weak whisper.

"He is arrogant enough to think he will wake up in paradise with his loved ones. Instead, we will give him a hell filled with his demons."

* * *

The medbay door slammed against the wall as it was thrown open. Startled, Ratchet spun quickly, bracing himself to protect his patients when a vial was shoved under his nose. Lennox uncorked it, and with a surge of rage threw the lid and neutraliser onto the ground, stamping and grinding the remains into the floor. The white tiles bubbled as the varnish melted and hissed.

"Major Lennox, what in Primus-"

The medic's mouth snapped shut as Will turned on him and pointed to the vial with a shaking finger.

"Thirty-three cc's to Prime, sixteen and a half to Quickfire. _Don't argue!"_ he snapped as Ratchet drew himself up furiously, "Direct orders from the Consort."

Though he still frowned at the Major, Ratchet nodded cautiously, even as his shoulder drooped. At this stage they were both dead in a few hours anyway. Any chance, no matter how slim, was something they'd just have to gamble. Will followed Ratchet into the private room, where First Command, the Rangers and what was left of the teenage trio guarded and prayed over their brother and niece in their final hours. Silence pressed in on all sides, to break it would be sacrilege.

The vigil parted to allow the two closer to the bed. Miles slowly raised his head from its bowed position as Bumblebee's had lay in his lap.

"Where's Sam?" he rasped, his throat and eyes aching from his tears. "They haven't got long."

Ratchet stepped towards the two IVs, still eyeing the vial with a hint of suspicion.

"He sent this." Will muttered, finally drawing Ironhide's eyes from his Prime to his chosen. "It's supposed to be a cure."

"He's desperate" Ultra Magnus mulled.

Ironhide ignored him as he watched Will worriedly. "William, are you okay?" He reached out for the Major, startled when he merely shook his head and looked away.

"Just do it, Ratchet."

The medic shared a glance with Prowl, the temporary first in command now that Optimus was out of commission. The Nobel nodded. A last, desperate attempt was better than none. The dosage was injected and little happened. Minutes passed and Mikaela started to pray under her breath. Ratchet fiddled with the IVs nervously. Miles returned to running his fingers through Bumblebee's hair.

Then Quickfire coughed. And coughed again. Then, for the first time in days, mumbled an exhausted "Gen'ator?"

Optimus's eyes struggled open and he groaned, his hand shifting to carefully pat her back.

"Oh my god." Mikaela whispered, and the shocked silence shattered.

Ratchet lunged forward and grabbed the nearest screen. "Fever's dropping…spark pulses are regulating…" he turned as his sleeve was tugged.

Optimus blinked sluggishly up at him, before mumbling with slurred urgency, "Ratch…'Fire's sick…"

Elita-1 burst into gasping sobs as she lunged forward, pressing kisses against QuickFire's helm and Optimus's forehead. The Prime blinked up at her in confusion and reached over to feebly pat her hand. His gaze roved around the bed, where every face staring back at him was suspended between delight and disbelief as they stared at him.

He jerked, squinting in disgruntlement as Ratchet shone a bright light into his eyes. "How do you feel?"

"Tired…aching…" he slurred as Ratchet fiddled with the IV. "wha' happ'ned?"

Ratchet shook his head sharply as Jazz moved to answer. "Just go back to sleep, Orion. We'll explain everything when you are awake."

The sedative pulled the Prime under before he had a chance to argue. Ironhide stood shakily, dragging his hand down his face. "I cant believe that worked." He shook his head in disbelief. "That Primus damned kid-"

Miles bounce to his feet with new life, Bee almost vibrating beside him. "I'll go get Sam and-"

"We can't." All eyes went to Will, whose eyes hadn't shifted from the sleeping duo on the bed. "Sam's not here."

Magnus glared at the captain. "It's a pit of a time for him to take a little vacation." He hissed, uncaring of the venomous glares thrown his way.

"Sam didn't create the cure." Will snarled, shifting away from Ironhide's hand. "We went and got it from the people who poisoned them."

"Who was it?" Will finally turned to meet Miles' eyes, and the blonde's heart stopped.

"Sector Seven."

In a flash the blond was on his feet, then Miles collided with Ironhide which a crash and the two grappled, stumbling back and forth as Miles tried to claw his way to Will.

" _Where is he?!"_ he roared, headless of Ratchet's protests and Bee's pleas. " _What did he do?!_ "

"He said it was an exchange." Will continued flatly, detached from the waves of shock and horror rising around him. "Him for them." The captain closed his eyes as Mikaela folded into Hound's arms with a sob. "They put him on his knees." He continued even as his eyes, still burning from earlier, began to tear again. "And they put his dagger in his back."

Miles crumpled with a wail, a painful cry that rose above the other cries of disbelief and horror.

"I think he's dead."

* * *

His eyes opened, and he found himself in an unfamiliar room.

'I was supposed to die.' He thought, straining to push away the memory of the blade slicing through his back. For a brief, shining moment, he allowed himself to dream that he had been rescued.

Then the door opened, and every thought ceased, and numb spread from his thoughts to his toes.

"I see you're awake." Tom nodded at him. "I'm sure you're confused."

Sam wet his lips, blinking as if to will away this drug-fuelled mirage. Tom only came closer, and waved Fault Line in beside him. The Elite stared at Sam with little emotion as he made his way over to the bed.

"The deal was your life for their." Tom agreed. "However, we never quite stipulated when exactly your end of the deal would be fulfilled. We have a few questions for you first."

"I'm not going to tell you shit." Sam sneered with false bravo.

Tom only smiled. "We were hoping you'd say that." He nodded at Fault Line, and the elite whipped his dagger out of its sheath and plunged it into Sam's shin.

Not for the last time, Sam arched his back and screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hopefully I'll get back in the swing of this now that it's summer
> 
> Also there shouldn't be too many chapters left in this fic...maybe 4? five?
> 
> Also has anyone listened to the We're Alive Podcast? If you have PM me so we can fan out together and if not go listen to it and cry and laugh and love it and then come PM me so we can fan out together


	60. Bond Graph

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yikes

 

So a long-promised family tree...sorta

Child: i.e being raised by. Sam and Optimus are raising Terra and Quickfire, for example

Blood/Energon siblings: i.e 'true' relatives like Sam and his sister Sophie, or Optimus and his brother Megatron and Ultra Magnus

Chosen Siblings: sort of a 'family by choice'. So Sam, Miles and Mikaela are siblings by choice, as are Quickfire and Terra because they've both been adopted by Sam and Optimus while not sharing any blood relation at all

Bounded: Or close enough! 

Brothers in Arms: Will and Epps are brothers in arms (i.e not QUITE as close as a blood or chosen sibling, but still way closer than 'just friends'). Epps and Barricade, and Barricade and Soundwave also have these bonds

First Command: ...These guys kinda needed a new type of bond all to themselves! They're a mix between the Chosen and Brothers in arms bonds to be honest, due to the nature of how they became close 

 

Also the Bluestreak/Sunstreaker/Sideswipe thing

I will probably develop this sometime but here's the lowdown  
Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are half-sparks. I.e. They are one spark split over two frames, making them spark twins (which is even closer than a normal twin), which gives them a near-telepathic ability to know how the other is feeling, where the other is etc.  
Since a sparkbonding is overall seen as where two halves of a spark come together (soulmates), Bluestreak is the bonded of both of them. Sunstreaker/Sideswipe is totally platonic and they love each other and their bondmate very very much.

 

Now that that's out of the way

Hi!

it's been...an embarrassingly long amount of time! I can admit that!

The last few years have been...intense. Especially the last two. I had a breakdown, I found out I was dyslexic, I had exams, I realised I was gay, I started university, I got two new best friends, I realised they were toxic people, I had another wee bit of a breakdown, I had to take medical leave out of university, I came out out my parents and friends, I got into new fandoms

Like  
phew

It's been alot

But I really want to get back to this, I'm not promising a new chapter tomorrow or even every week, but I will be working on this! I made a promise to myself I'd never leave a fic unfinished :)


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